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Meet the Mets
Matt Harvey didn't seem to have it early on, as the Cardinals tagged him for three runs in the second and the Mets fell quietly to the Cardinals 5-1 on Tuesday evening. The offense silently rapped out nine hits but only were able to plate a single run in the eighth on a Mike Baxter sacrifice fly. Harvey, meanwhile, was a bit erratic with his command and he allowed the three runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out four. One of the more exciting moments in this game came in the bottom of the eighth inning when one of the Mets' top prospects Jeurys Familia made his big league debut. The flamethrowing righty tossed an inning out of the bullpen, striking out one and erasing a one-out single with an inning-ending double play.
Choose Your Recap: MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, Associated Press, Star-Ledger, Bergen Record
The Mets look to salvage the series finale against the Cardinals this afternoon, as R.A. Dickey takes on Adam Wainwright. Game time is at 1:45 PM.
David Wright says that he's "extremely optimistic" that he and the team will work out a deal soon. Please...PLEASE let this be true.
With Buffalo's season ending on Monday, the Mets called up six more players: Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Fred Lewis, Justin Hampson, Elvin Ramirez and Jordany Valdespin. Toby Hyde wrote up a primer on Familia & Mejia, the other callups and those who were left in the minors.
The Mets' and Dodgers' financial situations have gone in opposite directions the past few months but which team has reason to be more optimistic? It may not be the team that you think.
Mike Pelfrey visited the Mets' clubhouse in St. Louis. Honestly, it seems like it's been ages since Pelfrey pitched for the Mets.
Sad news, everybody: Keith Hernandez's mustache, which has been visibly graying for most of the summer, may be completely shaved off before the end of the season. NOOOOOOOO!
Around the NL East
The Nationals torched the Cubs for 11 runs, including 6 home runs, as they defeated them 11-5. In Atlanta, the Braves got shut out by the Rockies 6-0. Who are they...the Mets? The Reds defeated the Phillies 2-1 despite Jimmy Rollins notching his 2,000th career hit. Finally, the Marlins fell by a score of 8-4 to the Brewers.
Around the Majors
It's all tied up in the AL East now. The Yankees fell to the Rays 5-2, while the Orioles rocked the Blue Jays 12-0 and that pushed Baltimore into a first place tie with the Yankees. Further complicating things is the fact that the Rays are now just 1.5 games behind them. This should be an interesting stretch drive.
People have been talking about a potential return to the majors for Roger Clemens with the Astros later this month but the big righty doesn't see it happening.
Michael Young is hitting a woeful .267/.299/.350 this season but he's not coming out of the lineup because of his "intangibles".
Royals' outfield prospect Wil Myers was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. Myers, who is somehow still buried behind the useless Jeff Francoeur, hit .314/.387/.600 in 591 plate appearances across AA and AAA as a 21-year old.
There's a campaign to get former Cub Adam Greenberg a major league at bat. In case you are unfamiliar with the story, Greenberg made his MLB debut back in 2005 but got hit in the head in his first (and only) plate appearance, suffering what turned out to be a career-ending concussion.