Mets Morning News: Mets beat Pirates in extras, acquire Kelly Johnson

Meet the Mets

Noah Syndergaard started, but did not have his best stuff. Nonetheless, he managed to work through six innings, while striking out five and allowing three runs, two of which were earned. On the offensive side of things, Ty Kelly and Michael Conforto each hit two-run home runs. Kelly's was the first of his career. After forcing extras, the Mets won on a Wilmer Flores single that scored Yoenis Cespedes in the tenth inning. The Mets begin a series against the Brewers tonight.

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For the second year in a row, the Mets acquired Kelly Johnson through a trade with the Braves. In exchange, they sent minor league reliever Akeel Morris to Atlanta. Johnson is batting just .215/.273/.289 through 121 at-bats this season.

The trade for Johnson indicates that the Mets are serious about contending this year, wrote Ken Davidoff for the Post.

Logan Verrett will get a spot start on Saturday. This will allow Steven Matz, who pitched Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader, to be on full rest for his next start.

Terry Collins floated the idea of shifting Neil Walker to third base and calling up Dilson Herrera to man second. Walker appeared at third for the Pirates in 2009 and 2010.

Terry Collins resolved to get Alejandro De Aza more playing time going forward. De Aza started last night in right field in place of Curtis Granderson.

Pitching prospect Robert Gsellman has been promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas. Gsellman, Amazin' Avenue's number nine prospect for 2016, has a 2.71 ERA for Double-A Binghamton.

At BP Mets, Sara Novic wrote in praise of Ty Kelly. The 27-year-old rookie hit his first career home run last night.

Mike Piazza will soon be the owner of a professional sports team. He announced that he has agreed in principle to purchase third-division Italian soccer team A.C. Reggiana 1919.

Around the NL East

The Braves defeated the Padres 4-2. Julio Teheran was dominant, throwing eight innings while allowing just two runs and striking out eight. Ender Inciarte and Chase d'Arnaud both had three hits for Atlanta.

The Phillies were beaten by the Cubs by a score of 8-1. Starter Vince Velazquez lasted just two pitches before being removed from the game with what was later referred to as bicep soreness. John Lackey shut down the Phillies' offense over seven shutout innings.

The Nationals beat the White Sox 11-4. Max Scherzer contributed seven innings of scoreless baseball. Jayson Werth led the way on offense with three hits, one of which was a home run.

The Marlins fell to the Twins 7-5. Wei-Yin Chen five runs over 5.1 innings for Miami, while Ichiro Suzuki had three hits.

Around MLB

Yu Darvish exited his start with shoulder tightness. It was his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Josh Hamilton underwent knee surgery to repair cartilage and his ACL. Hamilton still has one year and $30 million remaining on his contract, the vast majority of which will be paid by the Angels.

Five Cubs players are currently leading their positions for votes for the All-Star Game. The list consists of the overall vote leader Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Dexter Fowler.

Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez is looking like an ace, wrote Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs. His improvement in 2016 stems from his increased rate of strike throwing.

Inspired by Yordano Ventura sparking another brawl, Grant Brisbee compiled the all-heel Major League Baseball team. The list includes, among others, Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley, and Bryce Harper.

At The Ringer, Michael Baumann put together a primer on the MLB draft.

Yesterday at AA

Steve Sypa continued his previews of players eligible for the MLB draft, which begins today. Read about prep outfielder Blake Rutherford, Vanderbilt University outfielder Bryan Reynolds, and prep outfielder Taylor Trammell.

Timmothy Finnegan examined the improvement in Noah Syndergaard's changeup from last year. Batters are chasing it out of the zone far more, and they are swinging and missing far more too.

This Date in Mets History

In 1965, Major League Baseball held its inaugural draft. The Mets used their first pick on pitcher Les Rohr, but more notably, took Nolan Ryan in the 10th round.