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Meet the Mets
The Mets were unable to overcome a dreadful start from Noah Syndergaard, as they fell to the Cubs 10-7 last night. The team is now in the midst of a five-game losing streak, and they will turn to Jacob deGrom tonight to avoid a series sweep and turn the ship around as they fight to remain relevant in the NL wild card race.
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It was a particularly bad time for Noah Syndergaard to have the worst start of his career.
In happier news, Edwin Diaz returned to the mound last night, and he struck out the side in a perfect inning of work. He credits deGrom for helping him with his slider, which he believes can help him return to greatness.
The Mets need to bounce back from this losing streak fast if they want to remain in the postseason hunt.
Marcus Stroman’s statline hasn’t been particularly impressive so far, but Brodie Van Wagenen doesn’t have any doubts about his big midseason acquisition.
Brandon Nimmo and Jed Lowrie both continued their rehab assignments for Syracuse last night, with the former going 2-for-4 with a homer in seven innings of play and the latter going 1-for-3 in five.
While Mickey Callaway has not done a lot to endear himself to the fanbase in recent times, Jeff McNeil nevertheless praised the manager for the job he has done.
McNeil had a solid game last night, whacking a double and a homer in the Mets’ failed comeback attempt. He continues to produce for this club even with the added pressure of being in a postseason race.
The Arizona Fall League rosters were announced, and the Mets will be sending seven players. Some of the notable participants include pitchers David Peterson and Thomas Szapucki and shortstop Andres Gimenez.
Around the National League East
Freddie Freeman hit his 36th home run of the season to help the Braves put up nine runs en route to a 9-4 victory over the Blue Jays. It wasn’t entirely good news for the NL East frontrunners, however, as Fracisco Cervelli did leave the game with a quad issue, though the team later stated that the move was precautionary.
In his second start since coming off the IL, Max Scherzer pitched just 4.1 innings against the Orioles, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out eight. He was unable to get the win, but the Nationals bats did their jobs as the team walked away with a 8-4 win to split the two-game series with Baltimore.
The Phillies whacked a whopping 17 hits against the Pirates, which netted them a 12-3 victory over their Pennsylvania counterparts. The club remains two games back of the second wild card spot, and two games ahead of the Mets in the standings.
It was an unfortunate day for the record books down in Miami, as the Marlins were shutout for the 19th time this season. That surpasses the franchise record that the club set in 2013. This shutout came at the hands of the Reds, who defeated the Marlins 5-0.
Around Major League Baseball
The Brewers snapped the Cardinals’ six game winning streak with a 4-1 victory in the series finale between the NL Central rivals. The win allowed Milwaukee to leapfrog the Mets in the wild card standings.
Carlos Carrasco has been out of action since May after he was diagnosed with leukemia. His lengthy absence is finally on the verge of ending, however, as the Indians are planning on reinstating him from the 60-day IL on Sunday. He will join the club’s bullpen as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.
David Schoenfield took stock on how the big trade deadline deals that took place this season have worked out for the clubs thus far. Predictably, one of the trades he discusses is the Marcus Stroman one.
MLB.com compiled a list of pennant race X-factors for the teams who remain in playoff contention. The Mets, in spite of their recent failures, are still one of those teams, so they do get a shout-out in this list.
Even though there are still two months of baseball remaining, it’s not too early to start thinking about the wheeling and dealing that’s going to happen over the offseason. Jeff Passan over at ESPN previewed what we all have to look forward to over the winter.
Mark Feinsand over at MLB.com is also looking ahead to the hot stove season, as he took a look at ten players who are going to be free agents whose second-half production should help them get the big deals they are going to be searching for.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
A Pod of Their Own had a special guest from enemy territory, as Cuppa Cubbie Blue’s Sara Sanchez joined Allison McCague and Maggie Wiggin on this week’s episode.
There aren’t too many pitchers in the Mets’ system who are lighting up the radar guns, but Steve Sypa and Kenneth Lavin joined forces to provide scouting reports for the few who are.
David Capobianco had some harsh yet fair words about the job Mickey Callaway has done as manager in recent times.
This Date in Mets History
The 1962 Mets, as everyone knows, lost an awful lot of games. And it was on this day 57 years ago when they lost their 100th game of the season, with this defeat coming at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.