New York Mets pitcher Jefry Yan doubled down with another premature celebration and got burned Friday against the Chicago White Sox.
The Mets tasked Yan with keeping the score tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning at Rate Field in Chicago, Ill. The 30-year-old reliever thought he had gotten a third of the way through against leadoff batter Colson Montgomery.
Yan threw a 1-2 slider outside the zone and immediately jumped into the air for his signature strikeout celebration. The pitch was called a ball, and Yan eventually walked Montgomery.
Jefry Yan did his special celebration after the pitch was called a ball pic.twitter.com/l0slqMuMmb
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 22, 2026
The White Sox designated hitter became the winning run three batters later on Jake Rogers’s walk-off home run. The Mets lost 6-4 on the first home run Yan has surrendered in his young MLB career.
SOUTH SIDE STAND UP 😤
— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2026
JAKE ROGERS WALK-OFF HOMER pic.twitter.com/uuS3zfYS6g
Yan expressed his regret over the early celebration after the game, vowing to never let it happen again.
“That’s one of those situations where it becomes a learning experience,” Yan said via an interpreter. “You can’t go out there and kind of lose the goal, which is to execute the pitches. … It won’t happen again. … Once the job is done, then you can celebrate the way that you want to.”
The Mets pitcher also celebrated prematurely last Saturday, when he jumped into the air for what he thought was a strikeout of Washington Nationals second baseman Nasim Nuñez. Yan challenged the called ball, which was confirmed to be outside the zone.
The left-hander was able to recover the first time around, striking out Nuñez two pitches later and helping the Mets secure a 5-4 win.
The baseball gods were not as forgiving on Friday, punishing Yan’s hubris with his first career loss.
