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Meets the Mets
The Mets began a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals last night. After previously beating up on the weaker teams in the league to get back into the playoff race, the Mets were hoping to do the same thing against the Royals. Those plans did not get off to a good start, however, as the team suffered a 4-1 loss to fall further back in the wild card standings.
Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue short and long, Daily News, Bergen County Record, MLB.com, Newsday, Post, New York Times
Noah Syndergaard took the loss last night, and between the humid conditions and a lingering cold, he battled just to pitch as well as he did.
J.D. Davis exited last night’s game after feeling some pain in his calf while running to first base, though he said he’d be okay after the game. In other injury news, Robert Gsellman has been nursing some discomfort in his triceps and was not available to pitch last night.
Mickey Callaway made the curious decision to go with Edwin Diaz in a crucial spot last night, and after the game he tried to justify his decision in spite of the fact that Diaz gave us some crucial late-inning runs.
After missing almost three months due to a neck injury, Brandon Nimmo finally returned to game action with the St. Lucie Mets last night. The lefty outfielder, who the team is hoping will be able to return in time to assist them in the wild card hunt, served as the designated hitter and went 1 for 3 with a walk, a single, and a strikeout.
In spite of a somewhat pedestrian stat line in three starts for the Mets so far, Marcus Stroman has been pretty electrifying, and he believes the best is yet to come.
Amed Rosario is playing as well as he ever has in his entire major league career, and a big reason for that is his newfound confidence.
Brad Brach is incredibly excited to be playing for the team he grew up rooting for.
Around the National League East
The Braves gave up four homers to the Dodgers en route to an 8-3 loss. Making his debut with the team last night was former Met Adeiny Hechavarria, whom the Braves signed yesterday to hold down the fort until the injured Dansby Swanson returns.
In a battle between two wild card contenders, Anthony Rendon hit two RBI doubles to lift the Nationals over the Brewers 2-1. Meanwhile, while the Nats are anxious to see the return of Max Scherzer, they are nevertheless being cautious with their ace.
Bryce Harper homered for the third straight game as the Phillies defeated the Padres 8-4. It certainly seems as though the Philadelphia star is heating up at the perfect time.
The Marlins could not manage to get any runs on the board last night, as they fell to the Rockies 3-0.
Around Major League Baseball
Down 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Pirates pulled off a thrilling comeback against the Cubs culminated by a walk-off single by Kevin Newman. It marks the fourth straight loss for Chicago, who now sit in a tie with the Phillies for the second wild card spot.
Mike Yastrzemski socked three homers in a 10-9 slugfest between the Giants and Diamondbacks. The former team prevailed, and they are now just two and a half games back in the wild card race (and just a half game behind the Mets).
Fangraphs crunched the numbers and concluded that the teams who spend money continue to tend to win more games than the teams who don’t. Somebody should inform the Wilpons of this stunning revelation immediately.
Richard Justice compiled a list of eleven players who are having surprisingly excellent seasons in 2019. You’ll have to read to the end to see the Mets’ representative on this list.
Fernando Tatis Jr. was placed on the IL yesterday due to an injured back, and the Padres believe his season is likely over. It’s a disappointing blow for one of the most exciting young players in baseball, and it does have implications for the Mets, as Tatis has been one of Pete Alonso’s fiercest competitors for the National League Rookie of the Year award.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone argued that a mercy rule is something that the league should consider implementing.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
Kenneth Lavin previewed the series against the Royals, and the Mets unfortunately did not listen to his advice about the importance of taking advantage of this weak part of their schedule.
Steve Sypa provided scouting reports for the five players who will represent the Brooklyn Cyclones in the New York-Penn League All-Star game on August 21.
Chris McShane and Brian Salvatore discussed the highs and the lows of this past week of Mets baseball on the latest episode of Amazin’ Avenue Audio (The Show).
Joe Sokolowski provided us with a week’s worth of Mets quotes, which included everything from shirtless Michael Conforto to—well, you probably already clicked on the link after reading that.
This Date in Mets History
A pair of milestone home runs occurred for two New York baseball legends on this date, albeit by two very different players at very different points in their respective careers. On August 17, 1967, Buddy Harrelson hit his first career home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and six years later Willie Mays hit what would wind up being the final home run of his Hall of Fame career during his final season with the Mets.