Mets Morning News: Who is Donnie Stevenson?

Meet the Mets

The Mets beat the Phillies 5-4 in a rollercoaster game in Philadelphia. The Mets put up a crooked number against Zack Wheeler early, tagging him for four runs in the first inning. The Phillies then immediately cut the Mets’ lead in half in the second against Taijuan Walker and Alec Bohm tied the game with a two-run homer in sixth. In the seventh, the Mets were the beneficiaries of a botched call by the umpiring crew that enabled them to get out of a jam. The Mets’ bullpen was able to keep the Phillies off the board for the last three frames and Michael Conforto hit a decisive go-ahead solo shot off Hector Neris in the ninth inning to lift the Mets to victory. Trevor May earned the win for his scoreless eighth inning and Edwin Díaz shut the door in the ninth to notch his third save of the year.

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

The Mets had a hitters’ meeting prior to yesterday’s game and when speaking to reporters about the meeting, Pete Alonso said, “Also, we just made a nice new hire, Donnie. He’s nice. He’s a great hitting/approach coach. Donny’s been great helping the team. I think Luis forgot to mention Donnie. Donnie really helped us today.” When asked what Donnie’s last name was, Alonso—clearly doing a bit of improv comedy at this point—said he would have to ask Chili Davis, but then remembered his last name was “Stevenson.”

Reporters asked Michael Conforto about this mysterious “new hire” and after giving a chuckle Conforto said, “Yeah, Donnie’s a new guy. He made an appearance today at our hitter’s meeting. He’s all about the approach. He’s a hitting approach guy. He’s a guy that just gets the boys fired up and ready to go. So yeah, there is a new guy.” So I suppose we are now all left to wonder what this bit/inside joke is in the Mets clubhouse.

Unfortunately, yesterday’s win did not come without a cost. Both Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis left the game with injuries. Nimmo’s came after he was in visible pain after a swing and he was immediately pulled from the game. Thankfully, Nimmo’s X-rays were negative and he was diagnosed with a bruised left index finger.

Davis’ injury also came on a swing and he was diagnosed with a left hand sprain. He will not require X-rays and is considered day-to-day. It is worth noting that this is the same hand he injured earlier in the season after getting hit by a pitch.

Meanwhile, yesterday brought injury updates on a couple of other Mets. After leaving his start due to tweaking his hamstring, Marcus Stroman told Luis Rojas that he felt better yesterday and is still optimistic about making his next scheduled start.

Luis Guillorme, who hit the injured list yesterday with an oblique strain, had trouble walking on Friday, but was able to jog yesterday. He does not expect to be sidelined long-term.

Jose Peraza, Patrick Mazeika, Trevor Hildenberger, Daniel Zamora, and Joey Lucchesi are all on the taxi squad, according to Luis Rojas.

The Mets are once again giving Jacob deGrom an extra day of rest. He will start on Tuesday. The Mets have not decided on a starter for Monday’s game yet.

Yesterday marked the ten-year anniversary of the notable game against the Phillies when news broke during the game that Osama bin Laden was killed during a raid by United States Navy SEALs, which caused cheers to erupt in the stands.

Around the National League East

The Nationals trounced the Marlins 7-2 for their third straight win behind a strong outing from Patrick Corbin.

The Nationals announced updates on some of their injured players yesterday. Stephen Strasburg threw a bullpen session and Juan Soto is continuing to throw in right field to test his rehabbing strained left shoulder.

The Blue Jays beat the Braves in walk-off fashion in the tenth inning thanks to a bases loaded single by Randal Grichuk off Nate Jones, who took the loss. George Springer homered twice in the contest, including a game-tying shot in the seventh.

Travis d’Arnaud exited yesterday’s game with a thumb injury after making a tag at home plate on what would have been the tying run.

The Braves placed former Met Guillermo Heredia on the 10-day injured list yesterday with hamstring inflammation. Cristian Pache was called up to take his place on the roster.

Around Major League Baseball

Dustin May left yesterday’s game against the Brewers in the second inning due to an injury. At this time, the Dodgers are calling it a “right arm injury” without further details.

There were fireworks in yesterday’s game between the Reds and the Cubs in Cincinnati, as benches cleared in response to the Cubs dugout yelling at Amir Garrett for celebrating a key strikeout of Anthony Rizzo.

The start of the 2021 season has not been kind to young Angels righty Griffin Canning. But, the underlying numbers show that he’s getting a bit unlucky, writes Brian Menendez of Beyond the Box Score.

This Date in Mets History

Al Jackson pitched a two-hit shutout against the Reds on May 2, 1964.