Mets Morning News: Syndergaard nearing return as Mets stumble to the finish

Meet the Mets

The Mets lost to the Phillies 5-3 and fell to five games under .500 on the season. Other than surrendering two solo homers to Jean Segura, Carlos Carrasco pitched well, but a poor performance from Brad Hand in relief put the game out of reach for the Mets. The Mets managed a late-inning rally punctuated by a solo home run from the freshly activated Brandon Nimmo, but it was too little, too late as usual.

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Carlos Carrasco was at just 82 pitches when he was removed from last night’s game, but Luis Rojas said Carrasco’s thumb was bothering him after fouling off a pitch in his second at-bat.

In being relegated to bench roles, both J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith are trying to make the best of things.

Robinson Canó, even while suspended, remains a respected voice on the Mets and is in communication often with many Mets players.

Noah Syndergaard is nearing a return to the Mets—hopefully this time without any setbacks.

Around the National League East

The Braves were shut out by the Giants 2-0 in Alex Wood’s return from the injured list.

Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna has had his administrative leave extended through Friday. Ozuna is currently participating in a diversion program that he entered in a pretrial resolution on September 9. Charges of family violence battery and simple assault will be dropped if Ozuna meets the resolution’s conditions within six months. Ozuna could still be handed a suspension by MLB under the joint domestic violence policy.

The Nationals were blanked by Kyle Freeland and the Rockies by a score of 6-0.

The Marlins lost to the Pirates 6-3, as the Bucs recorded their fourth-straight series win.

Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas reached 500 plate appearances last night, which guarantees his vesting option for the 2022 season.

Around Major League Baseball

Padres teammates Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. appeared to get into some sort of argument in the dugout during last night’s game.

The Brewers clinched a spot in the playoffs last night.

Ken Davidoff of the Post wrote a story about the inspiration behind the modern design of masks for catchers and umpires.

Rays top pitching prospect Shane Baz has been added to the taxi squad and will make his major league debut tomorrow.

White Sox pitcher Mike Wright has been suspended for three games for what the Angels believe was him throwing at Shohei Ohtani intentionally. Tony La Russa also received an automatic one-game suspension.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Ken Lavin brought us the Daily Prospect Report.

This Date in Mets History

Keith Hernandez hit a grand slam in a Mets come from behind victory on this date in 1987.