Mets Morning News: Harang looks good in loss, Ynoa shines as Gnats win again

The Mets lost again yesterday despite a relatively solid start from Aaron Harang. For those of you trying to keep track, that leaves the team somewhat comfortably looking at a protected top ten pick. Video highlights from the game can be found here, while the full box score can be found here.

The Gnats moved within a win of clinching a South Atlantic League championship on Thursday, as Gabriel Ynoa pitched yet another excellent game. Steven Matz will be going for the Gnats this evening.

The Mets won't be broadcast on WFAN in the future, but the end of that relationship could prove to be an opportunity for another radio station to gain a foothold in the New York baseball market.

I don't think there's a Mets fan on the planet that will actually miss Frank Francisco, and it doesn't sound like Ron Darling will, either.

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The Pirates got another win last night and pulled themselves into a first place tie with the Cards atop the NL Central. They're handling their young ace a bit differently than the Nats did with Stephen Strasburg last season, with no plans to shut down Gerrit Cole.

Aside from the NL Central, the AL West is probably the only other divisional race that looks like it might be remotely interesting. The A's won again last night to extend their lead to three and a half games, and will now face the second place Texas Rangers.

The NL wild card chase isn't looking particularly exciting at the moment, although the Nats have drawn within five and a half games of the Reds after sweeping the Metsies. The AL chase is far more interesting though, with six teams who aren't currently leading their division realistically in the hunt.

The Rangers are currently pretty comfortable, and had the day off on Thursday. That allowed the Rays to gain a little ground, beating the Red Sox 4-3.

The Yankees and Orioles are both chasing the Rays, and New York kept pace by defeating Baltimore last night.

The Royals lost a little ground on their night off, but the Indians managed to stay just a game and a half back when the crushed the White Sox by a 14-3 score.

Baseball Nation had a look at some of the statues that can be found at MLB parks.

Finally for today, FanGraphs had a look at the two fastest fastballs in the game.