Mets Morning News: Mets sign top picks, Dickey strikes back

Meet the Mets

R.A. Dickey didn't always know where his knuckleball was going, but it was good enough to limit the Mets to just one run in seven-and-one-third innings. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays rallied for five runs against Bartolo Colon in the fourth en route to a 7-1 win and a series split.

Choose your recap: Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, ESPN New York, Post, Daily News, Star-Ledger, Newsday

The pitching matchup marked the first time since 2008 that two hurlers who were both at least 40 years old squared off.

After the game, Terry Collins said that his team is playing sluggishly.

Juan Lagares's lingering elbow injury could be more serious than we were led to believe.

The Mets have agreed to terms with their top two 2015 draft picks, outfielder Desmond Lindsay and left-handed pitcher Max Wotell

Although Dillon Gee has yet to be reassigned, the Mets had no issue giving his jersey number to recent call-up Logan Verrett.

The Times praised the late Nelson Doubleday for not meddling in baseball operations when he owned the Mets.

Around the National League East

The Nationals lost 5-3 to the Rays during a game that marked Doug Fister's return from the disabled list. Unfortunately, Washington will now be without Bryce Harper for a little while.

As the trade deadline draws near, the Marlins may have an advantage because of their manager's front office experience.

The Fish placed Martin Prado on the disabled list and called up catcher Jhonatan Solano.

A rare defensive mishap by Juan Uribe allowed Boston to defeat the Braves, 5-2.

The Phillies finally got the better of Baltimore, while Cole Hamels played a prank on reporters.

Around Major League Baseball

The top priority for commissioner Rob Manfred remains the growth of youth baseball. The Times reports that Manfred doesn't want to see the national pastime become a "country club sport."

Grant Brisbee says this dumb All-Star voting controversy is exactly what the league office wants.

In that case, I suppose Manfred won't be upset at Bless You Boys for hacking the online ballot in just 20 minutes.

Not so fast, though. MLBAM CEO Bob Bowman says that the company is throwing out phony ballots.

During Houston's 8-4 win over Colorado, Carlos Correa became the second-youngest player in the last 100 years to steal three bases in one game. The younger guy was Rickey Henderson

Kyle Schwarber hit his first major league home run during the Cubs' loss to Cleveland, but the youngster is still headed back to the minors next week according to skipper Joe Maddon.

Alex Rodriguez got to within one hit of 3,000 during the Yankees' 9-4 victory over Miami.

During Boston's win over Atlanta, Pablo Sandoval was benched because he was on Instagram during the previous night's game.

Yesterday at Amazin' Avenue

Alex Nelson provided a prospect profile of Mets 19th-round draft pick Nic Enright.

Chris Gaine reminisced on that time that Jose Bautista was a Met for a few hours.

This date in Mets history

A number of Met pitchers had memorable performances.