Mets Morning News: Mets suffer first walk-off loss of the season

Meet the Mets

The Mets suffered a brutal 6-5 loss in the series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting pitcher Walker Lockett gave up five runs in six innings, and the Amazins mostly failed to score any runs against the normally hapless Phillies bullpen. They did finally manage to tie the game in the ninth thanks to a two-out RBI single off the bat of Robinson Cano, but then Seth Lugo came on for the bottom of the frame and gave up three singles, culminating in a walk-off hit by Bryce Harper.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue short and long, Newsday, MLB.com, North Jersey, Daily News, NY Post.

Jacob deGrom was supposed to start yesterday’s game, but he was scratched due to a stiff neck.

Cano was activated from the injured list prior to the game and immediately picked up where he left off with the bat.

In a somewhat surprising decision, Drew Smith was optioned to the Alternate Site to make room for Cano on the active roster.

Jeff McNeil was out of the lineup last night in the aftermath of his crash against the outfield wall on Thursday, but it looks like he will avoid the injured list.

With a third of the shortened season in the books, what are the big takeaways for the Mets thus far?

Dwight Gooden shared his thoughts about the Yoenis Cespedes situation.

Around the National League East

It must be mentioned again that, despite the Mets making them look competent last night, the Phillies bullpen has been quite awful.

The Nationals resumed a previously postponed game and began a new series against the Orioles yesterday, losing the former 6-2 and winning the latter 15-3.

Washington suffered two brutal injuries yesterday, as Starlin Castro suffered a broken right wrist which will likely end his season and Stephen Strasburg was removed from his start after just 16 pitches due to a wrist issue.

After weeks of play, the Marlins finally held their home opener and defeated the Braves 8-2.

Atlanta’s starting pitching has faltered this season.

Around Major League Baseball

The league provided an updated Cardinals schedule as the club seeks to make up all the games they’ve missed due to their COVID outbreak.

An unknown Reds player tested positive for COVID-19. Cincinnati played their scheduled game against the Pirates last night, but now we must wait and see if this is one isolated case or the beginnings of another outbreak.

The upcoming trade deadline will be quite different from what we are accustomed to.

The Yankees also suffered an injury blow yesterday, as Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list due to a calf strain.

Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac reunited with the Indians on Thursday night, but were immediately optioned to the team’s Alternate Site as a result of them breaking quarantine protocols.

Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano had his suspension for his role in the team’s brawl with the Astros reduced from six to four games.

While the KBO has been allowing some fans in their stadiums due to South Korea’s low number of COVID cases, they may be going back to empty stadiums soon due to a recent surge in cases.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane analyzed Edwin Diaz’s recent excellence and pondered if/when he might start getting called upon in high-leverage situations again.

Steve Sypa continued to reminisce on former Mets minor leaguers by taking a look at Aderlin Rodriguez.

Joe Sokolowski compiled the most interesting Mets-related quotes of the past week.

This Date in Mets History

Mets legend and somehow still active major league pitcher Oliver Perez celebrates his 39th birthday today.