Meet the Mets
Matt Harvey was merely mortal against the Dodgers last night, giving up a 2-run home run to Matt Kemp in the sixth inning that broke a 1-1 tie, but the Mets battled back to force extra innings, where Jordany Valdespin was once again the man, now, possibly dawg. JV1 blasted a walkoff grand slam, the first in twenty years for the franchise (blame Todd Pratt) and the Mets evened their series with Los Angeles.
It may have been a rather pedestrian start by Harvey's standards, but he continued to dominate up in the zone with his fastball. Oh, and he also did this.
Seriously. Look at it again.
Mark Simon celebrated Harvey Day with five Harvey facts.
The Mets did a good job working counts last night, and currently lead MLB in pitches per plate appearance. Beyond the Box Score looks into just how much that actually matters.
Faith amd Fear would like to remind you that you never know exactly what you'll see at a baseball game. Like say, a walk-off Jordany Valdespin grand slam.
As you may have heard, the Mets will be hosting the all-star game at Citi Field this year. They've started to roll out the schedule of events, and unveiled the official ballot. Remember, stuff the ballot for Wright this year. We don't want a repeat of 2012. Bonus points if you vote Buck in as starting catcher over Posey. Venganza!
Also, the dearly departed Ted Berg posted his list of can't-miss events for the Summer classic.
Shaun Marcum is on track to make his first start of the season Saturday. Of course, we'll see if he'll be on track to then make his second start next Thursday. That's the important part.
On the minors side of things, Toby Hyde looks at whether or not Rafael Montero is ready for the majors. Short answer: No. Also at MMLB, an SNY piece on Savannah's Kevin Plawecki and Brandon Nimmo, both currently scorching hot.
Finally, Carson Cistuli of FanGraphs has taken to ranking all the cameras for the PCL MiLB.tv broadcasts. Unsurprisingly, Las Vegas brings up the rear.
Yesterday at AA
David Moseder looked back on Endy Chavez's walkoff drag bunt from 2007. My favorite part of that play was an amazingly giddy Ron Darling.
And Chris McShane considered the harrowing possibility that the Mets bullpen is once again terrible.
Around the NL East
The Phillies lost to the Pirates last night. Sorry, the PhiLOLlies lost to the Pirates last night. Much better. And over at Crashburn Alley, Bill Baer considers how to fix Ben Revere. I always liked Revere as a prospect, but batting-average-dependant players can be up and down.
The Braves went to extras as well, where there were finally dispatched in twelve innings by the Rockies.
Talking Chop has started a write-in campaign for Evan Gattis. Not to be outdone, Eric Simon demanded we start a write-in campaign for Mr. Clutch himself, Justin Turner.
The Nationals lost their third straight to St. Louis, that's a sweep for all you kids out there, and fell below .500 for the first time since probably like 2011 or something.
The Marlins were off yesterday, so Michael Jong spent his off day doing what he will spend most of the team's future off days doing, considering whether or not to trade Giancarlo Stanton.
Around MLB
Here's your scoreboard for last night's MLB action.
Dr. Grant Brisbee, M.D. gives Matt Cain a thorough examination to see if he can diagnose the problem.
Option fever is sweeping the AL East. Alfredo Aceves is headed back to Pawtucket after getting lit up by the A's. Oh, and his post-game quotes probably didn't help matters. And former Met Josh Stinson is headed to Norfolk after taking his own drubbing. Milwaukee tried to convert Stinson back to starting after claiming him on waivers from the Mets last Spring. Early results have not been promising.
Nelson Figueroa GIF auto-share.
And finally, the Fringe-Average Podcast dropped Episode 4 late last night. Haven't listened to it yet, but maybe Jason Parks explains what's up with the fake baby thing, because people seem to think I'd know for some reason.