Mets Morning News: Second half begins, looks exactly the same as first half

Meet the Mets

The second half of the season began last night with the opening game in a three-game series against the Dodgers. The Mets, unfortunately, looked just as helpless as they did for most of the first half, as Justin Verlander walked a whopping six batters in a disappointing outing and the offense mustered up only a leadoff double off the bat of Brandon Nimmo. The end result was a 6-0 defeat.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Newsday, Daily News, MLB.com

José Quintana is finally ready to make his Mets debut soon, as the veteran lefty starter has been activated from the injured list.

The Mets signed a couple of their top draft picks and hosted them at Citi Field last night.

Max Scherzer has dealt with some neck stiffness recently, but he should be good to start tomorrow.

The Mets cannot afford any further complications in their rotation.

Anthony DiComo reviewed the unfortunate first half for the Mets.

With the second half underway, the Mets are quickly running out of time to turn their season around.

Around the National League East

The Mets’ second half began the same way the first half went, and the same was the case for the Braves, who cruised to an easy 9-0 victory over the White Sox.

Phillies pitchers gave up a whopping four home runs to the Padres, leading to an 8-3 loss to open their second half.

Philadelphia placed Christian Pache on the injured list and have promoted prospect Johan Rohas as a replacement.

A quality start from Sandy Alcántara wasn’t enough for the Marlins, who fell to the Orioles 5-2.

Miami will likely be without Matt Barnes for the rest of the season, as the veteran reliever is set to undergo hip surgery.

The Nationals were losing 1-0 to the Cardinals in the third when the rain came, and the game was ultimately suspended.

Around Major League Baseball

ESPN provided their second half preview for all thirty MLB teams.

The possibility does exist that Shohei Ohtani could be on the trade market at the deadline.

The Yankees are hoping to get Aaron Judge back as soon as possible, but that may not be enough for them.

Shane Bieber will not make his next scheduled start due to forearm soreness which requires an MRI.

The Cardinals have shown interest in a potential Logan Gilbert trade with the Mariners.

Nelson Cruz’s career may not be over just yet, as the Blues Jays might be interested in the veteran slugger.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Vasilis Drimalitis previewed the first series of the second half.

Allison McCague provided meters for the performances of the position players and pitchers in the last week of the first half.

This Date in Mets History

Ron Darling’s lengthy Mets tenure came to an end with a trade to the Montreal Expos on this date in 1991.