Mets Morning News: Marcum walks the plank, Pirates steal Mets' buried treasure

Meet the Mets

Shaun Marcum was bad in his third straight start, not getting out of the fifth inning again, as the Mets fell to the Pirates 7-3. The offense was mostly silent, save for Anthony Recker's first home run as a Met and a couple of late runs off of the ancient Jose Contreras.

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If rain doesn't stop him, Jon Niese will take the hill this afternoon for the Mets and lefty Francisco Liriano making his Pirates' debut. Game time is scheduled for 1:10 PM.

David Wright fouled a ball off of his knee last night and was sore after the game but he's in the Mets' lineup today. Marcum, meanwhile, took a ball off of the thumb on his glove hand but he seems to be okay. Jeurys Familia is not okay, as he's still inactive with biceps tendinitis and may eventually be DL bound. That could open up a spot for Frank Francisco, who's taking his rehab up to Binghamton.

Terry Collins' spring mantra of aggression on the bases has worked out for the Mets so far, as they impressively lead the majors in baserunning runs.

Mike Baxter has had a lot of success as a pinch hitter off the bench and he credits that to tips he got from other great pinch hitters.

Marcum's third poor start should not lead to the Mets overreacting with a Zack Wheeler callup, says Anthony McCarron. Terry Collins says it's not his call.

Yesterday At AA

Brock Mahan looks back at May 10 in Mets' history.

Here's Greg Karam's daily farm report, in which Noah Syndergaard continues to be awesome.

Around the NL East

The grissiony Diamondbacks defeated the Phillies 3-2 last night as Tyler Cloyd replaced Roy Halladay. Speaking of Halladay, he apologized to Phillies' fans yesterday for his shoulder injury.

Washington won its fifth straight as the Nats defeated the Cubs 7-3. It wasn't all fun and games, as Jayson Werth is DL-bound.

The Giants beat up on the Braves 8-2, as Atlanta continues to fall back to Earth. Not falling back to Earth anytime soon is Andrelton Simmons' spectacular defense at shortstop.

The Marlins beat the Dodgers 5-4 yesterday. They also ran an ultimate fan contest and it went as hilariously as you'd expect it to go.

Around the Majors

The Washington Post has an excellent piece on Bryce Harper's swing mechanics, how he developed them, and how they're freakishly similar to those of Babe Ruth.

The Rotation asks if women will ever get the chance to play Major League Baseball?

It looks like former Mets' top prospect Carlos Gomez is good now, so here's how he will annoy you in the future.

Red Sox CEO took the internet in his own hands and addressed the media with this article.