Jonah Tong let a smile slip to the surface, mouth-guard dangling out of the corner of his mouth, as he glided off the mound at the completion of the fifth inning on Monday in Miami.

The Mets 23-year-old right-hander cut his last pitch of the afternoon in on the hands of Griffin Conine to close out his first start since Sept. 25, 2025, and line up for the win.

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Tong’s flashes of dominance were tinged with one noticeable pothole in the second inning as he made his first appearance for the Mets since he pitched in relief on June 2. Tong allowed four earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out seven in five innings at loanDepot Park.

The right-hander exited the contest with the Mets holding a 9-4 lead, led by a three-hit, three-RBI performance from A.J. Ewing.

Tong was crisp out of the gate, striking out the first four batters he faced in the outing as the Mets built a 3-0 lead before encountering his only major trouble of the afternoon. In the second inning, he gave up a single to Jakob Marsee and an RBI triple to Javier Sanoja.

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Owen Caissie walked on seven pitches in the next at-bat before Graham Pauley reached out and managed to pull an outside fastball over the right-field wall for a three-run home run that put the Marlins ahead.

But Tong was able to settle in and retire the next six batters he faced, including a six-pitch third inning. The only other baserunners Tong allowed were a one-out single to Sanoja in the fourth and hitting Kyle Stowers in the fifth.

Tong finished with 87 pitches with five of his seven strikeouts coming on his changeup. He picked up half of his 16 whiffs on that pitch, which he deployed 33 percent of the time, compared to 31 percent on his fastball.

Check back for more updates and analysis as Jonah Tong returned to the mound for the Mets on Monday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How did Jonah Tong do in his Mets return to rotation? Our observations