Tag: Mets

Reliever Phil Maton was bombarded in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing a solo home run to Jackson Chourio and a two-run shot to Garrett Mitchell, allowing the Milwaukee Brewers to come back and defeat the New York Mets 5-3 in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday night.

Chourio hit two solo home runs to help keep the Brewers’ season alive as the best-of-three series comes down to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday night at American Family Field.

Maton’s stumble was the first runs allowed by the Mets bullpen in the series after going three clean innings during Monday night’s Game 1 win and an additional two in Game 2 via Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek.

Milwaukee’s comeback win was the first time since Game 4 of the 1982 World Series that they came back to win a game in which they were trailing in the seventh inning. 

The Mets will be left to rue their inability to convert in big spots, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine left on base.

New York scored all three of its three runs in the first two innings to take an early two-run advantage. Brandon Nimmo struck first in the top of the first with an RBI single to score Jose Iglesias from second. With runners on the corners and one out, Pete Alonso fumbled early New York momentum away when he grounded into an inning-ending double play. 

His grounder deep in the hole to Willy Adames could have been beaten out, but the slugger tripped over his bat while running down the first-base line.

Chourio, the first batter Mets starter Sean Manaea faced, tied the game up in the bottom of the first, becoming the youngest player in MLB history at 20 years, 205 days old to hit a lead-off home run in the postseason.

But a mistake from Brewers starting pitcher Frankie Montas helped the Mets put up a pair in the second inning to cancel out Chourio’s historic round-tripper. 

After JD Martinez struck out to lead off the inning, Montas got Starling Marte to ground out to first. The pitcher ran to the bag and beat Marte comfortably, but he dropped the throw from first baseman Rhys Hoskins, allowing the Met to reach base. 

Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez hit back-to-back singles to score Marte and put runners at the corners for Francisco Lindor, whose sacrifice fly made it 3-1. 

The Brewers pulled one back in the fifth after Brice Turang, who continued his strong showing in the series, led off with a double. He would come in to score on a Blake Perkins sacrifice fly.

Manaea would go no further, ending his outing with two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

New York rallied in the sixth after Martinez walked and Marte singled. With two outs in the frame, Brewers manager Phil Murphy opted to intentionally walk Lindor for Jose Iglesias. The move worked as reliever Joel Payamps struck him out.

Former Yankee and Met Gary Sanchez’s one-out infield single put the Brewers in business in the bottom of the sixth off Mets reliever Reed Garrett, but solid Mets defense snuffed it out when Alvarez threw out pinch-runner Garrett Mitchell at second for the second out of the inning. 

One pitch later, Garrett struck out Rhys Hoskins to keep the Mets ahead going into the seventh.

For more on the Mets, visit AMNY.com

QUEENS, NY — Francisco Lindor took two rounds of batting practice before quickly heading down the tunnel back into the Mets’ clubhouse on Sunday afternoon before his team’s series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

What could have been seen as a potential red flag was given context by the star shortstop after New York’s thrilling 2-1 win.

“I accomplished what I wanted to,” Lindor said. “Every day I’m pushing it to the limit. I hit that limit, that was enough. The goal is to come in every day and work as hard as I can to reach that limit the trainers want me to. Then we go from there… Another slow step in the right direction.”

Lindor’s return from an injured back is going slower than originally expected. The 30-year-old said himself that it would be a two-to-three or three-to-five-day absence after he was removed after the first inning during last Sunday’s loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia. 

While manager Carlos Mendoza expressed optimism in recent days that Lindor could return to the lineup for Tuesday’s massive series opener against the Atlanta Braves, the man himself was not quite sure to make such a declaration.

“It’s hard. I want to see how I wake up and bounce back [Monday],” Lindor said. “[Monday], I will continue to do more stuff and then go from there.”

When asked whether or not he believed he would get back on the field before the regular season ends on Sept. 29 in Milwaukee, Lindor said that he was “optimistic.”

“I’m optimistic that I’m going to play,” he began. “I have a lot of faith… I believe I’m doing everything I can to try to be in a position where I can get back and play… I’m definitely improving. It’s slower than I would like.”

Over the past week of recovery, he has taken ground balls, run on flat ground, and has hit lobbed baseballs. He has yet to run on the bases or face live pitching — just a few of the boxes that need to be checked off before he can return.

Even when he does come back, he will have to manage the discomfort.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t think I’m going to play pain-free and I’m OK with that,” Lindor said. “I just don’t want it to be a constant pain where I can’t bend over. Then I’m putting my teammates in a position where I’m not helping them as much as I can. That’s not fair to anybody. For me, it’s to be in a position where if it’s going to hurt, it’s going to come and go.”

He was administered an injection, which has made the pain “more mild,” but the tricky nature of back injuries means an abundance of caution will still be used even with the Mets hoping to clinch a playoff spot in the final days of the 2024 campaign.

That has not been the easiest order to carry out with the Mets playing so well and the postseason inching more and more close.

“That’s why I keep saying I trust the trainers,” Lindor said. “If it was for me, I would try to go out there and probably come out of the game just like I did in Philly. I trust the trainers. They study this, they prepare for this. They’re outstanding in what they do. I’ve got to make sure I’m in a spot where they say I’m good and I’m also believing that I’m good and I’ll go out there.”

For more on Francisco Lindor and the Mets, visit AMNY.com

Since 2009, The 7 Line has strived to bring Mets fans together from all over the New York City area.

From their bright orange shirts to their signature chants, The 7 Line—an apparel company—has become a staple of the Mets and Citi Field experience. For the first time, it is extending its outreach beyond just Mets games into the community.

Darren Meenan, the founder of the fan organization, found a love for running this past offseason and was determined to find a way to combine his love of the Mets with his newfound passion for running.

“Last November, I ran a turkey trot, and I wasn’t even sure if I could run the three
miles,” Meenan said. “But when I got through three miles, I was like, ‘Wow, I really like this,’ so I kind of got the running bug really quickly.

“So I signed up for a race on New Year’s Eve in Flushing Meadows Park. Since there were no leaves on the trees, I could see Citi Field. That got my wheels spinning, and within two weeks, I had the 7 line 7k already in the works.”

The 7 Line 7k is set to take place on Sunday. Sept. 22, which consists of over 1,700 runners, all running to raise money for the Amazin Mets Foundation. It will start in the heart of Flushing Meadows Park and will end in the parking lot of Citi Field.

The race isn’t your everyday race, however, as the 7 Line 7k consists of the Mookie Mile. The Mookie Mile, named for former Met Mookie Wilson.

“Mile two of the race is called the Mookie Mile,” Meenan said. “So there will be a mat on the ground, and everyone has their bib, and in everyone’s bib is a transponder. So once you
pass into the second mile, whoever runs the fastest mile will get a Mookie Wilson jersey. The jersey will have a patch on the shoulder that says ‘Mookie Mile winner 2024.’ Because Mookie Wilson is one of the sponsors of the event.”

Proceeds raised from the race will go to the Amazin Mets Foundation. The foundation is
led by Alex Cohen, the wife of Mets owner Steve Cohen. Meenan expressed his excitement about

raising money for the charity.

“They’ve been doing a lot for the community,” Meenan said. “Some of the people from the foundation are going to run. Mr. Met is going to be there at the start which is very exciting.”

Following the race, the runners will celebrate their accomplishments at the race by tailgating outside Citi Field before the Mets take on the Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball in the Mets’ final home game of the regular season.

However, this wasn’t always the plan, as the race, which was originally set to be in July, was moved to its current date due to weather. Which means that runners are in for a lengthy tailgate.

“It kind of worked out,” Meenan said. “Now that the Mets are still in it and there’s so
much excitement around the team. Unfortunately, with ESPN having the ability to change the
time of games, the game was gonna be at 1, and the race is at 8:30. We were going to do the race, do the award ceremony, and then walk right into the game. So the tailgate is going to be very long. People will be so jacked up if we run this race, we go to the game, everyone’s wearing their finishing medal and we get to watch the Mets.”

For more on the 7 Line and the Mets, visit AMNY.com

QUEENS, NY — New York Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor has “a chance,” to return to the lineup during the team’s weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies, manager Carlos Mendoza said on Thursday afternoon.

Lindor, who is dealing with a lower back issue, was not in the Mets’ lineup for Thursday’s series opener against the Phillies, which extends to Sunday. He has missed each of the last four games after a failed one-inning comeback on Sunday in Philadelphia. 

“We’re still calling it day by day,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully he turns a corner to a point where we can make a decision… I don’t want to put a date… there’s a chance he plays in this series. But if he doesn’t play, that doesn’t mean that [something went wrong]. We’ll see.”

Mendoza added that Lindor is “slowly getting better,” but that he would spend Thursday doing indoor work in the weight room to work on mobility and range of motion. 

Following Monday’s MRI which showed no structural damage, Lindor suggested that his absence would be between two-to-three and three-to-five days. Friday would be five days which not much tangibility connected to the 30-year-old’s progress.

“It could be one of these [situations] where he shows up [to the ballpark one day] and he turns the corner,” Mendoza said. “You never know with back issues.”

The Mets have been able to stay afloat without their MVP, who was batting .271 with an .836 OPS, 31 home runs, 86 RBI, and 27 steals, much in part to the contributions of Jose Iglesias and top prospect Luisangel Acuna.

New York is coming off a sweep of the Washington Nationals where it built a two-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card race while moving into second place via a tiebreaker over the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Including Thursday night’s series opener against the Phillies, just 10 games remain in the regular season.

“When he’s ready to go, he’ll play regardless of where we’re at in the schedule and in the standings…” Mendoza said. “If he can’t go, regardless of the situation, we don’t want to put him at risk. This is a guy who’s going to play through pain. He’s done it a lot of times but if he gives the green light without compromising some of the other body parts, then we’ll put him out there.”

For more on Francisco Lindor and the Mets, visit AMNY.com

QUEENS, NY — Jesse Winker’s first-inning grand slam and a four-run eighth inning predicated on erratic Boston Red Sox relievers clinched the New York Mets’ seventh straight win on Wednesday night at Citi Field, 8-3.

“This feels good,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But there’s a lot of games left, there’s a lot of good teams in the race, but the mindset continues to be the same. One game at a time… We have to come every day, be prepared. I like how the guys are going about their business.”

Winker’s early blast held up for most of the night with the hosts holding a 4-3 lead entering their final turn at-bat before Boston’s Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill walked five Mets in the bottom of the eighth, including four-in-a-row and three straight with the bases loaded to plate runs. Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly  gave the Mets a fourth run in the frame.

“Right now it’s about winning baseball games any way you can,” Winker said. “That was a complete game.”

New York’s slim lead was held intact for most of the night much in part to five scoreless innings from the relievers Alex Young, Huascar Brazoban, Danny Young, Phil Maton, and Edwin Diaz after starter Tylor Megill failed to keep a four-run lead comfortably.

While the Mets continue to stack up wins — they are now a season-high 12-games over .500 (76-64) — they remain tantalizingly close to a playoff spot but remain a half-game behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.

New York was able to get to Red Sox starter Tanner Houck, who had been Boston’s ace this season with a 3.12 ERA entering Wednesday night, from the jump. The righty loaded the bases before recording a single out when singles by Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos sandwiched a Brandon Nimmo walk.

After Pete Alonso struck out, Winker lined a 2-2 splitter from Houck the other way that just cleared the left-center-field fence to clear the bases. It was Winker’s 14th home run of the season, his third with the Mets, and his fifth career grand slam. 

“I was just trying to get something over the plate that I could hit up in the air,” Winker said. “He threw me a lot of really tough pitches. I was just happy that one got out.”

Megill gave three right back in the third inning when he yielded three straight hits to lead off the frame — the last of them being an RBI double by Jarren Duran to get Boston on the board. Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu each hit sacrifice flies to get the visitors within one.

Following a lead-off single by Emmanuel Valdez in the fifth, Megill was quickly pulled by Mendoza for reliever Alex Young, who got through the inning unscathed. Megill threw just 67 pitches in what is expected to be his final start before returning to Triple-A with Paul Blackburn expected to come back from the injured list next week.

“Once we got [four innings], I was going to try and stop him as quick as possible,” Mendoza said of the quick hook of Megill. “We got four there, a big hit by Winker… we just had to try and stop it there and give us a chance to win somehow.

Mets bats went silent following Winker’s slam, getting just two hits in their next 20 plate appearances stretching into the seventh inning — their one-run lead still intact thanks to a bullpen that saw three different relievers (Young, Brazoban, and Danny Young) coax three inning-ending double plays in the fifth, sixth, and seventh.  

After Danny Young got Boston’s No. 1 and 2 hitters in Duran and Devers, Mendoza called on Maton to see out the eighth. Instead, he allowed two straight singles to Rob Refsnyder and Tyler O’Neill to put runners at the corners but got Masataka Yoshida to line out softly to Lindor at short.

“They did a hell of a job, all of those guys,” Mendoza said. “They kept making pitches. We turned three double plays when we needed because they continued to execute, they didn’t panic. Overall, we did a lot of good things.”

Jansen helped put the Mets in the driver’s seat in the eighth when he walked Nimmo and yielded a single to Vientos to put two on with no outs. After striking out Alonso, he walked Winker and Taylor to bring in a run. Hill, a former Met, was called upon in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but he walked Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez to make it a 7-3 game before Bader’s sacrifice fly. 

“Those at-bats against Jansen were really, really good,” Mendoza said. “We’re doing a lot of good things and we need to continue to do that to get where we want to be.”

For more on the Mets, visit AMNY.com

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET and the New York Mets appear to be buyers. 

A torrid stretch between June and July has them in a National League Wild Card spot and nipping at the heels of the Atlanta Braves, a team that sits ahead of New York for both second place in the NL East and the top Wild Card spot. 

While president of baseball operations David Stearns had to maintain a wait-and-see approach through the All-Star break, he has tipped his hand that he is in the market for upgrades. To address a weakened and meager bullpen, he already acquired Phil Maton from the Tampa Bay Rays and Ryne Stanek from the Seattle Mariners. 

If Stearns had his way, the Mets would not be done addressing the bullpen, either. The team designated Jake Diekman for assignment after a miserable four months in Queens on Monday and are without Sean Reid-Foley, Reed Garrett, and Dedniel Nunez due to injuries — though Garrett is expected to return sooner rather than later. Edwin Diaz has been inconsistent, so has Adam Ottavino, and Drew Smith was lost for the season earlier this month.

New York’s 4.09 bullpen ERA ranks 19th in the majors this season and has been amongst its most inconsistent units.

The starting rotation is also believed to be a focus of Stearns in the final hours before the trade deadline, which is something of a later development. 

Slated to move to a six-man rotation just a week ago, they lost Christian Scott due to a sprained UCL and on Friday, saw Kodai Senga go down with a high-grade cal strain just 5.1 innings into his 2024 season debut.

With Jose Butto succeeding as a long reliever — a job that is solely his after the team DFA’d Adrian Houser — that leaves Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza’s current options bare. Tylor Megill struggled against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and David Peterson did not fare much better on Sunday after a solid string of outings. 

Foraying into the starting-pitching market this time of year will be tricky, though. Stearns and the Mets want to keep their farm system mostly intact, meaning an understandable stubbornness to part with young talent for rentals.

Of course, exceptions to such a rule apply. The Detroit Tigers are rumored to be making their ace, Tarik Skubal available. Not only is the 27-year-old right-hander a front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award this season, but he does not become an unrestricted free agent until 2027. Perhaps that would coax the Mets to part with a bit more from the farm.

For more on the Mets, visit AMNY.com

BRONX, NY — New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott will be shut down for two weeks and is expected to be ramped up after that, manager Carlos Mendoza revealed on Wednesday before his team’s series finale against the Yankees. 

Mendoza called it “relatively good news,” even going as far as saying he was “relieved,” about this initial timetable. Scott was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 22, on Tuesday with a sprained UCL.

“It’s not the worst-case scenario, which is awesome,” Scott said on Wednesday. “It’s a sigh of relief for now… The team has done a really good job of testing me out, sending me to imaging, and talking to some doctors and our training staff. I feel comfortable in the position we are in right now.”

An MRI on Tuesday revealed the extent of the injury but the Mets pursued multiple opinions on the injury, prompting Mendoza shortly after the results came down on Tuesday to share that “there’s always fear [of surgery].“

“Every time you send a pitcher for an MRI because he complains about an elbow, you never know what you’re going to get,” Mendoza said after getting the good news on the 25-year-old right-hander. 

Scott initially felt discomfort in his pitching arm after his start on Sunday against the Miami Marlins. When the pain did not go away, the Mets sent him out to get imaging.

The initial expectation is that Scott will return to the mound in the majors this season — a rookie year that has seen him go 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA. 

“Obviously, we have to wait the next two weeks and see how he progresses when we start building back up,” Mendoza said. “But from what I was told talking to the trainers and even with Scotty, we feel pretty good that he’ll be back here.”

While the Mets still plan on instituting a six-man rotation once Kodai Senga makes his season debut on Friday, there is no indication as of yet about who will slot in for Scott on Saturday. Jose Butto remains the favorite, but that could change if Mendoza needs him out of the bullpen.

For more on Christian Scott and the Mets, visit AMNY.com

Francisco Lindor ripped a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth off Pittsburgh Pirates closer Aroldis Chapman to lift the New York Mets to a dizzying, late-lead-swapping 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.

Lindor, who went 3-for-4 in the win, was the first man to cross the plate on Sunday when he scored on Brandon Nimmo’s double with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, but closer Edwin Diaz — making his second appearance since returning from his sticky-stuff suspension — allowed a two-run single to Nick Gonzales in the bottom of the eighth to put the hosts in the driver’s seat.

But the Mets immediately put the pressure on Chapman to turn the tides and pick up their second win of the four-game series, which concludes on Monday afternoon. Francisco Alvarez walked and Harrison Bader singled to lead off the inning before the fireballing left-hander struck out Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens to put the Mets’ backs against the wall. 

But Jose Iglesias walked to load the bases and ultimately set the table for Lindor, who continues to shine while batting out of the lead-off spot. 

After losing three straight, the Mets have now won two in a row to get back to .500 (44-44) while Diaz rebounded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to finish his second straight game

The Mets needed a rally in the top of the eighth just to put them on the board, initially. After Iglesias was thrown out trying to steal second for the second out of the inning, Lindor drew a walk before Nimmo lined a double the other way to left-center field. 

Lindor was sent home — a move that might have been overly aggressive — but the relay throw was dropped by Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz to allow the Mets’ star shortstop to score without a throw. Considering Cruz is regarded as the hardest-throwing infielder in the game, a clean transfer would have created a close play at the plate. 

Mets starter Sean Manaea worked his way around an abundance of early trouble set up by control issues to put together a second-consecutive quality start, going six shutout innings while allowing just two hits with six strikeouts, but he walked three. 

Two of those free passes came in the first inning, but a Bryan Reynolds double play got him out of a jam without a scratch. 

Manaea committed an error to lead off the second inning when he failed to touch first base while accepting a throw from first baseman Pete Alonso but proceeded to set the next three he faced in order, although his pitch count ran up to 38 through just two frames. 

The southpaw settled as the finish to his second inning began a stretch in which he retired eight consecutive Pirates. He needed just 51 pitches to get through the last four innings of his outing.

New York was just as mystified as Pittsburgh starter Luis L. Ortiz, though, as it was limited to just four hits across six scoreless innings. 

It was not until the bullpens were ushered in that the levies broke as the Mets scored the game’s opening run in the top of the eighth against Colin Holderman — the reliever whom they traded to Pittsburgh for Daniel Vogelbach during the 2022 season. 

Diaz was called in to clean up the mess made by Dedniel Nunez to start the bottom of the eighth. He allowed singles to Jack Suwinski and Andrew McCutchen to put two on with two outs before manager Carlos Mendoza called on his closer. 

The righty walked Joshua Palacios on four pitches to load the bases before Gonzales pulled a single through the hole in the left side of the infield. 

For more on the Mets, visit AMNY.com

It looked as though the only thing that could have slowed Brandon Nimmo down was an injury, and that is exactly what appeared to have happened.

The New York Mets’ veteran left fielder left Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves after tweaking his right side while trying to hold up a check swing during the third inning. He stayed in the game, working out a walk, but officially departed in the fifth inning when Tyrone Taylor took over for him in left field.

“I was trying to do as much as I could to just get past it and move on in the at-bat, but it felt good for the most part,” Nimmo told reporters after the game (h/t SNY). “It was just more so knowing that it was a cold day and in one half-inning of being out in the outfield it had started to tighten up a little bit and not wanting to exert it more in the cage but also needing to keep it warm for the next at-bat, and so that’s kind of where we came to the decision of let’s play it more safe.

“But yes I did take two more swings and was able to finish the at-bat and that gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”

The team labeled it as intercostal irritation and manager Carlos Mendoza initially projected this as a “day-to-day” issue. Nimmo also transmitted confidence that this would not land him on the injured list.

“I don’t think it’s IL,” Nimmo said. “I’m hopeful that [Sunady] I will be good to go. I have 24 hours to recover which is a lot in baseball and I am hopeful for tomorrow. If it’s not I don’t expect it to be much longer than that.”

It is understandable for the Mets to practice an abundance of caution. Intercostal injuries, which occur between the ribs, are tricky to navigate and if aggravated, could land Nimmo on the shelf for an extended period of time — as long as two months. 

“My worry was just knowing where it was at, that if I had to check up and if I did more then we’re talking something more like six to eight weeks rather than one or two days,” Nimmo said. “…If it does get worse then we’re talking something much more serious so we decided to play on the safer side.”

After a slow start to the 2024 season, Nimmo was coming around over the last two weeks. Across his previous 11 games, he was slashing .297/.422/622 (1.044 OPS) with three home runs, eight RBI, and six walks. 

For more on Brandon Nimmo and the Mets, visit AMNY.com