Mets Morning News: And then there were two

Meet the Mets

The Mets defeated the Braves 4-3 in the opening game of their final series of the season. Brandon Nimmo hit a pair of homers in the victory, and the Mets held off Atlanta’s late attempts at a rally. Tylor Megill pitched five shutout frames for the win and concluded his rookie campaign with 18 starts and a 4.52 ERA. In the contest, Brandon Webb and Kevin Pillar faced off for the first time since Webb hit Pillar in the face, and the two acknowledged each other before the at-bat began.

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Megill recapped his first season and looked ahead to 2022.

Fresh off his multi-homer performance, Nimmo said he would love to discuss an extension, but does not know if the Mets will be focusing on that this winter.

The best booth in baseball shared some heartfelt sentiments during last night’s broadcast in what will ultimately be their final game together for the 2021 season.

Prior to last night’s game, Pete Alonso spoke to the media and put a fair share of the blame on the team’s disappointing season on himself.

The first baseman is not sure what went wrong with the club this year.

Alonso also said he wants to be one of the “cornerstone” guys on this franchise going forward, and spoke about how he wants his legacy one day to be of a champion who brought a title to New York.

The Polar Bear sees a lot of places for improvement going into next season and beyond.

Alonso also said that, should the DH arrive in the National League in 2022, he has no interest in taking on the role full-time.

Francisco Lindor believes Robinson Cano will need to offer a sincere apology to his teammates before returning to the club in 2022.

Following this season, Trevor May feels the Mets are better equipped to handle the New York noise.

SNY’s Danny Abriano asked the question that is on everyone’s mind: Should the Mets make qualifying offers to Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto.

Javier Báez was named a September All Star by MLB.com’s Will Leitch.

To know where Jacob deGrom is going, look no further than where he came from.

Marcus Stroman, who will be a free agent this winter, did not discount the Cubs as a possible landing spot, rebuild be damned.

Jeurys Familia, who is set to hit free agency for the second time in his career, doesn’t know what the future holds but would like to remain in New York.

Justin Toscano presented the case for and against keeping Luis Rojas.

Joel Sherman provided his offseason plan to fix the Mets.

Before the Mets do much of anything, they will need to hire a President of Baseball Operations, and Jon Heyman suggested that Billy Beane could be the best bet at a big splash, with Theo Epstein and David Stearns unlikely.

In case you forgot, the Mets failed to sign Kumar Rocker prior to the August 1 deadline. Mike Puma discussed how that drama will affect the team’s draft and free agency plans.

Francisco Alvarez and J.T. Ginn were named the organization’s Hitting and Pitching Prospects of the Year by MLB Pipeline.

The Mets officially drew 1,511,926 fans in 2021, which is by far the lowest number (not counting 2020, of course) since Citi Field opened, for reason both related and unrelated to their play during the season.

Around the National League East

The Braves overcame ‘ups and downs’ to clinch their fourth straight National League East title.

Atlanta called up right-handed pitching prospect Spencer Strider, who made his debut in last night’s game.

The Phillies blanked the Marlins 5-0. In the victory, which ensured that the Phillies would finish with a winning record, Bryce Harper hit his 35th home run.

Philadelphia will finish second in the NL East, but they will miss the postseason for the tenth straight season.

The Marlins will have money to spend this winter, according to Kim Ng.

The Nationals fell 4-2 to the Red Sox.

Around Major League Baseball

Baseball America wrote about the age of utter futility that MLB finds itself in, as four teams have eclipsed the 100-loss mark once again.

MLB.com’s David Adler examined every contending team’s biggest weakness.

Adam Wainwright will stick around St. Louis for at least one more season, as he agreed on an extension with the Cardinals for 2022.

Speaking of veteran pitchers, Max Scherzer, who enters free agency this offseason, intends to pitch into his 40s.

Dusty Baker, who just won his eighth division crown, does not have an extension for 2022. If he is not signed. there are a couple of teams that could be looking for a new manager soon, including the Mets.

The Cardinals earned their 19th victory in 20 tries as they walked off the Cubs.

The Diamondbacks earned their 110th loss as they fell 9-7 to the Rockies.

The Giants lowered their magic number to clinch the NL West to one as they blanked the Padres 3-0 for their seventh consecutive victory.

The Dodgers kept pace with San Francisco by beating the Brewers 8-6. In the win, Clayton Kershaw exited in the second inning with an apparent injury.

The Pirates pulverized the Reds 9-2.

The Blue Jays held on to beat the Orioles 6-4.

The Royals crushed the Twins 11-6.

The White Sox tamed the Tigers 8-1.

Cleveland topped the Rangers 9-6.

The Athletics beat the Astros 8-6.

The Mariners dropped a crucial game, losing 2-1 to the Angels.

The wild American League Wild Card race got even more wild last night, as four teams are now separated by two games for two playoff spots. The Yankees hold the top spot with a one-game lead over Boston, while Seattle and Toronto are each one game behind the Red Sox with two games to go.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

I previewed the team’s final series of the year against the Braves.

This Date in Mets History

Mike Piazza played his final game as a Met on this date in 2005.