Mets Morning News: Matz, bullpen shine in extra-inning win

Meet the Mets

The Mets bounced back from Friday’s loss with an extra-inning win over the Giants, thanks to a brilliant start from Steven Matz, who went seven innings, surrendering just one run and striking out a career-high eleven batters. After making a costly base running mistake, Todd Frazier drove in the game-winning run in the eleventh. Seth Lugo, Jerry Blevins, and Robert Gsellman combined for four scoreless innings of relief in the win.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue short and long, New York Times, Daily News, Post, Newsday, MLB.com.

David Wright has pushed himself beyond where many other players would go to come back in 2018. The question is, what happens next?

Jerry Blevins cleared waivers and was surprisingly not dealt by the deadline. Blevins, for one, is happy he wasn’t traded. He feels like his old self after a rocky start to the season and has indicated he wants to stay a Met after this season.

Meanwhile, when it comes to what the Mets’ bullpen might look like in 2019, there are many arms that are going to get a look as rosters expand in September. A fair few of them are arms the Mets acquired selling off assets at the trading deadline in 2017.

Around the National League East

The Phillies fell to the Cubs—looking suddenly a lot more powerful with Kris Bryant back in the lineup—by a score of 7-1. Something weird also happened in the game. In what was a baseball first, umpire Joe West confiscated notes on scouting reports Phillies’ reliever Austin Davis was consulting in between batters, citing them as a “foreign substance.”

The Phillies are due for an easy stretch of their schedule—which includes the Mets—while the Braves are facing much stiffer competition. The Phillies hope this presents an opportunity to make up ground. They are currently three games back of the Braves in the NL East.

Stephen Strasburg had his best outing since returning from the disabled list, as the Nationals beat the Brewers 5-4 thanks to a late-inning comeback.

Like the Nationals, the Braves also had a four-run eighth inning. They beat the Pirates 5-3, despite getting no-hit by Chris Archer into the sixth inning.

Wei-Yin Chen tossed a gem in Miami, as the Marlins defeated the Blue Jays 6-3.

Around Major League Baseball

Grant Brisbee takes a deep dive into the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals—how they went from on the top of the world, facing off in the 2014 ALCS, to the two worst teams in baseball. Most importantly, he tells us what we can learn from their fall from grace.

Matt Kemp blasted a three run shot in the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks to move the NL West into a tie.

Josh Donaldson was a late bloomer to baseball superstardom. As a result, he is older than most players are when they hit free agency. And his less than stellar walk year could end up costing him dearly.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Kory Powell gave us the daily prospect report.

There was a new episode of Amazin’ Avenue Audio, in which Chris McShane and Brian Salvatore discuss David Wright’s return.

This Date in Mets History

On September 2, 1965, the Mets retired Casey Stengel’s number 37.