Mets Morning News: Scherzer, Lindor lift Mets to big win in Houston

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For the first time since 2014, the Mets picked up a regular season win against the Astros—a string of seven straight losses snapped with a 11-1 victory on Monday. The Mets put up a five-spot in the third, which began with a Daniel Vogelbach solo home run and concluded with a Francisco Lindor three-run shot. That was more than enough for Max Scherzer, who was terrific after two subpar outings. His slider, which gave him fits in his last appearance, was his most effective pitch in the win, which was a sight for sore eyes. Scherzer went eight, which is the longest outing of his Mets’ career and allowed one earned run on four hits. Jeff McNeil snapped an 0-for-9 stretch and drove in the team’s sixth run in the sixth, while Lindor drove in two more runs with a double in the ninth. Tommy Pham and Vogelbach each contributed run-scoring hits in the ninth, as well.

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X-Rays on Francisco Álvarez’s hand came back negative after he was hit by a foul tip late in yesterday’s win. The Mets will wait to see how sore he is today before deciding his status for tonight’s game.

Prior to last night’s game, the Mets recalled reliever Grant Hartwig, their No. 26 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, from Triple-A and optioned John Curtiss to the minors.

Hartwig pitched a scoreless inning in his debut last night, less than two years after signing with the Mets as an undrafted free agent.

Justin Verlander returns to Houston tonight to pitch against his old club.

Joe Pantorno examines the team’s trade deadline options.

Before last night’s game, the Mets saw their playoff probability dip below 25%, according to Fangraphs.

The Mets are holding their summer blood drive today at Citi Field. All fans who donate will receive a voucher for two tickets to an upcoming Mets weeknight Mets game.

Joey Lucchesi has been named International League Player of the Week.

Around the National League East

The Marlins collected 11 runs and 19 hits to blank the Blue Jays 11-0.

In the win, Luis Arraez picked up his second five-hit game in three games and became just the fourth player since 1900 with three five-hit games in a single month (and the first since 1984). Oh, and he’s batting .400 once again.

The Nationals fell to the Cardinals by an 8-6 score in their series opener.

The Braves sit atop the National League East Power Rankings.

Around Major League Baseball

The latest MLB Power Rankings are here. Unsurprisingly, the Mets aren’t high up.

The MLB dot com Staff looks at the best rookie stars to build your team around.

MLB dot com also identified ten names to watch at the Draft Combine.

MLB set an attendance record over Father’s Day weekend this year.

The Pirates began teasing their City Connect jerseys.

The Athletic’s Sam Blum watched some of Phil Nevin’s ejections with him, and discussed the Angels manager’s fury and his relationship with umpires.

Brittany Ghiroli spoke with some in the Rangers’ organization about the team’s lack of a Pride Night, and why they find it frustrating.

On Sunday, an older brother watched with joy as his younger brother was gifted a ball, and then watched in dismay when his younger brother threw it back. But fret not! This story has a happy ending.

A Cubs fan once saved a Brewers fan’s life. Here’s the story of how they became good friends.

The Yankees veterans must rise to the occasion with Aaron Judge on the shelf indefinitely.

The Tigers put up a five-spot in the seventh to come back and beat the Royals 6-4.

The Reds won their ninth straight, prevailing 5-4 over the Rockies. In his long-awaited season debut, Joey Votto homered in his second at-bat, and drove home the tying and go-ahead runs with a single.

The Cubs shut out the Pirates 8-0 to hand Pittsburgh their seventh straight defeat (all of which came after they beat the Mets on June 11).

The Red Sox beat up the Twins 9-3.

The Rangers topped the White Sox 5-2.

The Diamondbacks put up six runs in the first against Corbin Burnes and cruised against the Brewers 9-1.

The Giants scored two in the ninth to tie the game, and Mike Yastrzemski’s walk-off, three run shot into McCovey Cove gave them an eighth straight win as they beat the Padres 7-4.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

I previewed the team’s series against the Astros, which kicked off last night.

It’s Mock Draft SZN on Episode 227 of From Complex to Queens!

This Date in Mets History

Back when it was fun being a Mets fan, New York used four home runs to defeat the Reds 9-2 at Shea Stadium on this date in 2006. The victory grew their lead in the NL East to 9.5 games.