Mets Morning News: Megill and deGrom progressing in rehab

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After falling behind early, the Mets responded with eight unanswered runs to beat the Dodgers 9-4 in Los Angeles. Pete Alonso had a huge day, knocking in five of those runs and launching two long balls, which put him in the top ten in the Mets all-time home run list. David Peterson only lasted 3 ²⁄₃ innings and therefore was not eligible for the win, which was awarded to Colin Holderman for a key strikeout of Mookie Betts to finish off the fourth inning. For those on the East Coast wise enough to be asleep before the end of this game, you also missed the Dodgers attempting to pitch a position player when the rules would not allow them to do so.

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With last night’s performance, Pete Alonso became the fastest Met to 50 RBIs in a season in franchise history.

Max Scherzer was bitten by one of his dogs on his throwing hand. “Just clearing a few things up,” Scherzer tweeted in a statement. “My dog Rafi hurt her leg on a run. She was howling in pain and I went to calm her down by putting my hands on her. When I did that she bit my right hand. Fortunately it wasn’t a bad bite. I took one day off from throwing and was able to long toss the next day. This will have no effect on my rehab and this is literally a non-story.” The Mets do not expect that this will cause a setback in Scherzer’s rehab.

In a more cheerful injury update, Tylor Megill will make a rehab start today at Double-A Binghamton.

And Jacob deGrom threw his first bullpen since being sidelined with a stress reaction in his scapula. He threw nineteen pitches—all fastballs—at moderate intensity.

“Forget about the 9 ½-game lead, it’s the way they are playing,” Mets owner Steve Cohen said of this current Mets team. “We had a big lead last year, but it was different. This looks different. It’s still early. I am not going to get excited, because we know things can change. I will get excited in August.”

The Mets complained of a “rat urine” smell at Dodger Stadium around the work areas on the visitor’s side.

Tim Healey of Newsday explores whether the Mets’ plethora of infield hits is due to pure luck or due to hitting coach Eric Chavez’s no strikeout approach.

The Dodgers retired Gil Hodges’ number, which has been retired by the Mets since 1973, prior to last night’s game.

Around the National League East

Jesús Sánchez walked it off with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth for Miami, propelling the Marlins to a 5-4 victory over the Giants.

The Marlins optioned righty Elieser Hernandez to Triple-A.

Zack Wheeler earned his fourth win of the season, helping the Phillies to a 7-2 victory over the Angels.

Unfortunately though, Alec Bohm hurt himself slamming his bat down after a strikeout.

The Nationals beat the Reds 10-8, thanks to two home runs from Juan Soto.

The Braves beat the Rockies 6-2 in eleven innings, holding the Rockies to just three hits in the process. This is the first time they have won three games in a row this season.

Around Major League Baseball

According to figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the Dodgers will pay a nearly $47 million luxury tax on their $310.6 million payroll—a record sum.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote about how Albert Pujols is serving as a mentor to 24-year-old Juan Yepez.

Miguel Andújar has requested a trade from the Yankees.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues that the Yankees should wait until after the season to negotiate further with Aaron Judge about a contract extension.

“The Cardinals know what their fans expect. The Cubs think they know what their fans will swallow,” writes Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times on the difference between how the two franchises treat their fans.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com wrote about nine overlooked stories in 2022 so far.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Lukas Vlahos brought us the Daily Prospect Report.

This Date in Mets History

Pitching coach Bob Apodaca, hitting coach Tom Robson, and bullpen coach Randy Niemann were all fired on this date in 1999.