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Tag: Pete Alonso

  • Don’t check in late for Cubs-Brewers NLDS decider. This series is all about the first inning

    Working as a starting pitcher in the NL Division Series between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers has been one tough job.

    Twenty-one of the 35 runs in the series have been scored in the first inning. The series concludes on Saturday night with a winner-take-all Game 5 to determine which of these NL Central rivals will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

    “I think it’s way more common than you think, for pitchers to be vulnerable in the first inning,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Friday. “Everybody’s geeked up. The atmosphere is way different. And I think that’s something that is noted.”

    So perhaps it’s no surprise that neither Murphy nor Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced their Game 5 starting pitchers a day in advance.

    The Cubs have the option of turning to Game 2 loser Shota Imanaga on four days’ rest, but he posted a 6.51 ERA in September and has allowed six runs over 6 2/3 innings in two appearances this postseason.

    “With the exception of (Game 4 starter) Matt Boyd, everyone’s going to be available,” Counsell said. “And so it’s a cliché here, but we have 11 pitchers to figure out how to get 27 outs. That’s how we’re treating it.”

    Milwaukee could use a similar approach to its Game 2 strategy, when seven different pitchers contributed to a 7-3 victory. Murphy noted that Aaron Ashby would be available after throwing 32 pitches in the Brewers’ Game 4 loss on Thursday.

    Murphy listed Ashby, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, Trevor Megill, Chad Patrick and Jacob Misiorowski as guys who are “going to probably pitch.”

    “A lot of those guys are rookies, a lot of those guys are not very experienced, but that’s how we’ve won all these games and come together,” Murphy said. “Now we’re playing in a way bigger environment, and it’s a bigger task. But I’m confident that we’ll have enough pitching.”

    The Cubs are trying to become the 11th team to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games. The last team to do it was the New York Yankees against Cleveland in the 2017 AL Division Series.

    Saturday’s winning team would open the NLCS on Monday. The Brewers would host the Dodgers for the start of the series, while the Cubs would travel to Los Angeles.

    Chicago has reached this point by winning each of its last three elimination games, though all of them were at home. The Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in the decisive third game of their Wild Card Series, and they brought this series back to Milwaukee by winning 4-3 in Game 3 and 6-0 in Game 4.

    “I feel like it’s an even slate,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said after the Game 4 victory. “Game 5. Both teams have had great moments in this series. I love where our group’s at.”

    Milwaukee is trying to change its recent history of postseason frustration.

    The Brewers are in the playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, but their last postseason series win was in the 2018 NLDS. They lost Game 7 at home to the Dodgers in the NLCS that year and are 4-13 in their last 17 playoff games.

    Murphy remains confident in the Brewers’ chances as they look to bounce back from two straight losses in Chicago.

    “We’re five wins away from the World Series,” Murphy said. “I’ve learned a lot about this team, and one thing it is, it’s resilient, and they bounce back.”

    Milwaukee suffered one of its most heartbreaking playoff exits last year, when the Brewers led the New York Mets 2-0 heading into the ninth inning of Game 3 in the NL Wild Card Series before Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off Devin Williams as part of a four-run rally.

    Losing this series would be just about as painful for Brewers fans because it’s against one of their biggest rivals and Counsell, the longtime Milwaukee manager who grew up in the area but left his hometown team to join the Cubs.

    Counsell has downplayed the personal aspect of this matchup throughout the series.

    “I’m just thinking about how do we advance,” Counsell said. “It’s almost like the opponent doesn’t matter right now. How do we advance? Because who you play and all those stories around that, that doesn’t matter. How do we advance? That’s really been my focus.”

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

    CBS Minnesota

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  • Pete Alonso snaps Mets’ 8-game skid with walk-off homer | amNewYork

    Did the Mets ever need that one? 

    Pete Alonso bailed out an unreliable bullpen with a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift New York to a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

    The win snaps a heinous eight-game losing streak that saw the Mets (77-73) temporarily fall out of a playoff spot, though Sunday’s result temporarily gives them a one-game lead over the San Francisco Giants for the third and final National League Wild Card spot. 

    “Every game is important now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Especially now in the middle of this losing streak, going into an off day… not going to lie, we needed that one.”

    The Mets had built a 2-0 lead on the back of Nolan McLean, who continues to assert himself as the team’s unquestioned ace. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander went six shutout innings, allowing five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. 

    He is the first Mets pitcher ever to begin his career with six straight starts of five-plus innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed. McLean boasts a 1.19 ERA to start his MLB career. 

    But New York’s bullpen, as has become commonplace of late, squandered a 2-0 lead that was given to McLean behind an RBI groundout by Juan Soto in the fifth and a solo homer from Brandon Nimmo in the sixth. 

    Brooks Raley and Reed Garrett combined to give up two quick Texas runs. Joc Pederson’s two-RBI single scored Michael Helan and Josh Smith.

    After Ryne Stanek navigated his way through the 10th without allowing the Rangers’ ghost runner to score, Soto was intentionally walked to lead off the bottom of the frame for Alonso. 

    The slugging first baseman jumped on a 1-1 hanging sinker, lifting it 390 feet over the right-center-field wall. 

    “Every walk-off homer is sick,” Alonso said. “It was awesome, a phenomenal feeling. A lot of meaning to that one for where we are as a team.”

    For more on the Mets, visit AMNY.com

    Joe Pantorno

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  • Mets come back to beat Phillies 6-2 in Game 1 of NLDS

    Mets come back to beat Phillies 6-2 in Game 1 of NLDS

    PHILADELPHIA — Kodai Senga slapped the dugout railing in a raw display of emotion, a most unexpected Game 1 starter pumping his fist during an eighth-inning comeback that – have you followed these New York Mets? – should really have been expected by now.

    New York has mastered the art of the late rally, first in Atlanta, then in the Wild Card Series at Milwaukee and now this so-called stunner – five runs in the eighth against two All-Star relievers for a 6-2 win Saturday over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of their NL Division Series.

    “Over the long run and you keep doing that time and time again, it should work out,” Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “And we have enough good hitters that if we all come up with plans and we all take our shots, that we like our chances of breaking through.

    “So I think Atlanta, Milwaukee, very recent examples that you have in the back of your head to give you confidence that you’re never out of it.”

    Senga played his small part in the win pretty well for a pitcher who was an injured afterthought all season. He tossed two innings in only his second start of the year, throwing 31 pitches before giving way to a sensational bullpen.

    The right-hander served up Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff home run on his third pitch and left with the Mets down 1-0. He struck out three and walked one; Schwarber’s homer was the only hit he allowed.

    Senga had thrown just 5 1/3 major league innings all year before he was announced by New York manager Carlos Mendoza the surprise starter for the NLDS opener.

    The Japanese star joined the Mets ahead of the 2023 season on a $75 million, five-year contract and became an All-Star in his first season. He went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

    But the 31-year-old made just one start this season as he dealt with shoulder and calf injuries. The team’s projected No. 1 starter, Senga also was slowed late in the year by tightness in his right triceps.

    He impressed enough against the Phillies that Mendoza could call on Senga again for another start in the best-of-five series.

    “If they call on me, I just prepare to pitch that day. That’s all there is,” Senga said through a translator.

    Mendoza, in his first season as Mets manager, said the plan going into Game 1 was two innings or about 35 pitches.

    “We have an idea of what we’re doing there,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully we get to a point where that relationship continues to develop and there’s more conversation, kind of like what I have with the starters, that I have the whole year, and I know when to push and when not to. I don’t think I’m there with Senga.”

    David Peterson, who earned his first career save in the Wild Card Series clincher against Milwaukee, kept the Mets in the game with three innings of shutout relief. Reed Garrett tossed two perfect innings for the win.

    Phil Maton struck out two in a scoreless eighth – Mets pitchers fanned eight – and Ryne Stanek was touched for a run in the ninth.

    Thanks to the five-run burst and a stellar bullpen effort, the Mets could afford to rest closer Edwin Díaz.

    The Mets stunned the Phillies and another packed house at Citizens Bank Park, not with a dramatic drive like Pete Alonso’s go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning of Game 3 at Milwaukee, but instead they henpecked the bullpen with singles and sacrifice flies.

    With Phillies ace Zack Wheeler out of the game after throwing one-hit ball over seven shutout innings, the Mets had three straight batters reach base in the eighth after facing 0-2 counts. Mark Vientos hit a tying single and Nimmo laced a go-ahead single past a drawn-in infield for a 2-1 lead.

    All-Star relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm got just one out combined and allowed five runs in the eighth.

    Nimmo added an RBI single in the ninth. All eight of New York’s hits – seven in the final two innings – were singles.

    After the last out, Mets fans crowded the rows behind their dugout and chanted “Let’s Go Mets! Let’s Go Mets!”

    Leave it to the Mets to win this one late – they have scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.

    No doubt, the Mets will be flying high when they send right-hander Luis Severino to the mound Sunday in Game 2.

    “In Atlanta it was like a two-game series for our lives, and in Milwaukee it was three,” Nimmo said. “So you still go into it understanding you’ve got to win three games, and it doesn’t matter how you get there, just as long as you get there.”

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  • Position Priorities for the Astros at the Trade Deadline

    Position Priorities for the Astros at the Trade Deadline

    The Major League Baseball trade deadline is less than two weeks away and the Astros have gone rather quickly from possible seller to almost certain buyer on the trade market. Just one game back in the division and facing the team ahead of them in the standings out of the gate, this is a team that believes they can win another division title and go deep in the postseason once again despite all the early season travails.

    GM Dana Brown has said they expect to be buyers at the deadline, which is July 30. But what exactly do they need? This is still a team in pretty good shape overall, but they definitely have weaknesses at several positions they will no doubt hope to address (we’ll get to whether they actually have the prospects to make it happen another time).

    POSITIONS OF ABSOLUTE NEED

    Starting Pitching
    Considering this is a team that only had eight total starting pitchers in 2023, it is absolutely remarkable the lengths they have gone to in an effort to make up for injuries that have decimated their staff. Their IL would make a formidable starting lineup if healthy. Instead, they’ve relied on rookies and pitchers who never started before and still managed to be really good. Adding depth to the rotation, even with the promise of Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia eventually returning, is a must at this point. “You can never have enough pitching” has absolutely been born out this season for the Astros. Their first and primary priority, no doubt, will be another arm for the rotation.

    Now, will they spend big or just look for an innings eater who might also be able to slide into a bullpen role? That’s a good question and one we cannot answer. But whatever the case, they need help here in the worst way.

    HIGH ON THE LIST

    Relief Pitching
    First Base

    The Astros have continued to sign warm bodies to roll into the bullpen throughout the season. It’s been necessary with all the injuries and huge workload for their pitching staff. So, it should come as no surprise they are going to be looking for additional arms for the bullpen…you can never have enough yada yada. The good news is it shouldn’t cost much. They don’t need a closer or even a setup guy. They just need a solid middle-innings reliever to complement guys like Seth Martinez and Tayler Scott — and to mitigate the struggles of Rafael Montero.

    As for first base, Jon Singleton has played extremely well since Jose Abreu was released. He isn’t ideal at that position, but he does provide power and has a very good eye at the plate. At minimum, finding another bat who can backup at first and be credible defensively, would be helpful. But don’t be surprised if they take a big swing at someone like Pete Alonso either.

    WE SHOULD BUT WE WON’T

    Third Base

    No one wants to linger on the fact it is highly unlikely Alex Bregman is an Astro next year. But, more critically, his impending free agency is set to leave a massive hole in the Astros infield, not just because he is so good but because they have literally no one in the minor leagues to replace him. It is one of the most glaring weaknesses in their farm system.

    Not making some kind of move to, at minimum, find a solid backup at the hot corner before the offseason will put a tremendous amount of pressure on the team to spend the money to replace Bregman…or spend the money to re-sign him. Either way, not making a move to do something about third is probably not in the cards even if maybe it should be.

    Jeff Balke

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  • Mets arbitration candidates: Predicting who is safe, who is on the bubble and who is out

    Mets arbitration candidates: Predicting who is safe, who is on the bubble and who is out

    The Mets roster, as it was constructed last season, lacked impactful depth. Billy Eppler constructed a roster that had elite talent at the top but not much in the middle.

    The drop-off from the stars to the role players and back-end options was steep. President of baseball operations David Stearns has a solid track record of finding quality depth pieces. He touched on it during his introductory press conference and credited his staff for helping him find and identify those depth players.

    There are several players under team control due for raises in arbitration this winter but it’s unlikely the Mets will tender contracts to all of them. Here’s a look at the arbitration-eligible players on the 40-man roster and our best guesses as to whether or not the Mets opt to keep them.

    Safe: 1B Pete Alonso, DH Daniel Vogelbach, RHP Drew Smith, LHP Joey Lucchesi, LHP David Peterson

    Stearns said he expects Pete Alonso will be the Mets’ Opening Day first baseman. Alonso, who has one more year of team control before becoming a free agent, recently switched agents and retained Scott Boras, who typically likes to take clients to free agency. He may end up right back with the team that drafted him and developed him after testing the free agent waters, but he continues to emphasize how much he loves New York and playing for the Mets, so negotiations could open up again.

    Daniel Vogelbach should be on the bubble. He didn’t produce when the Mets needed him to this year, despite Eppler’s insistence that he would. Maybe without Eppler, Vogelbach’s chances of returning might not be as high, but thanks to MLB Trade Rumors we have an idea of what he might make next year: $2.6 million, which is pretty cheap. The 30-year-old has familiarity with Stearns having played in Milwaukee, and he’s extremely well-liked in the clubhouse.

    In the end, Vogelbach managed to finish the season with a 104 OPS+, so between the cost-effective salary and his on-base skills, the Mets could be tempted to keep him around a little longer. However, this doesn’t mean he will be the primary DH next year.

    Left-handers David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi have value as depth options and will likely be around $2 million each. The Mets could use them as back-end starters or put them in the bullpen. The team churned through some long-relief options early in the season and none of them stuck. Peterson and Lucchesi could be options for that role.

    Drew Smith struggled this year with his breaking stuff, but the right-handed reliever still has minor-league options.

    On the bubble: RHP Trevor Gott, RHP Jeff Brigham, RHP John Curtiss, RHP Sam Coonrod, RHP Elieser Hernandez, OF DJ Stewart, INF Luis Guillorme, OF Tim Locastro

    Trevor Gott was good for the Mets at times, but also very bad at others. They paid a high price for him, sending left-hander Zack Muckenhirn to Seattle in exchange for the right-handed reliever and taking on the salary of right-hander Chris Flexen. Stearns acquired Gott once in Milwaukee, so he may be inclined to keep him around and use him in lower-leverage situations.

    Without Edwin Diaz last season, the Mets needed some of their “optionable” arms to step up. Jeff Brigham didn’t, even when the Mets continued to use him in important spots. Eventually, the club was forced to use that minor league option, demoting him to Triple-A when the situation became untenable and his nearly 20% home run rate caught up to him.

    Brigham is 31, so it’s not like he’s an emerging prospect who needs more development. The same can be said for John Curtiss (30) and Sam Coonrod (31), who both struggled with injuries this season. Both are out of minor league options, while Brigham has one left. Curtiss was already non-tendered by Stearns once, with the Brewers opting not to retain him while he rehabbed from his second Tommy John surgery in 2022.

    Luis Guillorme had his worst offensive season and was demoted to Triple-A. He also missed time with a calf injury. However, the 28-year-old is a homegrown defensive whiz who can play every infield position.

    The Mets have to figure out if DJ Stewart’s August performance was an aberration or whether it’s sustainable. He hit .303 with eight home runs and 16 RBI in August before getting injured and cooling off in September. He also didn’t hit left-handed pitching well, with an OPS of .595 in 49 plate appearances. Stewart, who will be 30 next month, could be useful as a bench option.

    Tim Locastro is an intriguing option with his speed, but the Mets weren’t able to utilize it with the outfielder spending most of the season on the injured list. The team will have to decide if the base-stealing is necessary or whether that roster spot can be utilized in another way.

    Non-tender: INF Danny Mendick, OF Rafael Ortega, C Michael Perez, OF Tim Locastro, RHP Elieser Hernandez 

    Danny Mendick can play a lot of positions, but he didn’t hit for the Mets in his first season after ACL surgery. Rafael Ortega had a few big hits, but not enough. Michael Perez is out of options and the Mets still have Tomas Nido in the organization, plus catchers Kevin Parada and Hayden Senger coming through the system.

    Elieser Hernandez couldn’t stay healthy and he’s also out of minor league options.

    Abbey Mastracco

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  • Musgrove pitches hometown Padres past Mets 6-0 and into NLDS

    Musgrove pitches hometown Padres past Mets 6-0 and into NLDS

    NEW YORK — Joe Musgrove brushed off chants of “Cheater!” after a bizarre spot check by umpires on the mound, pitching his hometown San Diego Padres into the next round of the playoffs Sunday night with seven innings of one-hit ball in a 6-0 victory over the New York Mets.

    Trent Grisham hit an RBI single and made a terrific catch in center field that helped the Padres take the best-of-three National League wild-card series 2-1. Austin Nola and Juan Soto each had a two-run single.

    San Diego advanced to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Tuesday — ensuring the Padres will play in front of their home fans in the postseason for the first time in 16 years when they return to Petco Park for Game 3.

    “We know that. We would love for them to be able to see some postseason games,” manager Bob Melvin said Sunday afternoon. “To an extent, we feel like they’re a part of us.”

    It was the fifth time the Padres have won a playoff series. They took a first-round matchup against St. Louis in their own ballpark with no fans permitted after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before being swept in the Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.

    For the Mets, a scintillating season ended with a whimper at home in front of empty seats. Baseball’s biggest spenders won 101 games — the second-most in franchise history — but were unable to hold off Atlanta in the NL East after sitting atop the division for all but six days.

    New York was up by 10 1/2 games on June 1 and seven on Aug. 10 before finally ceding control last weekend. The defending World Series champions snatched away their fifth consecutive division title and a first-round playoff bye on the strength of a head-to-head sweep in Atlanta — and the Mets never fully recovered.

    New York ace Max Scherzer got rocked in a Game 1 loss to San Diego and, after the Mets won Game 2 behind Jacob deGrom to stave off elimination, they mustered almost nothing against Musgrove and finished with one hit in the loss.

    No. 3 starter Chris Bassitt lasted just four innings, giving up three runs and three hits with three costly walks to batters near the bottom of the order.

    Pete Alonso’s leadoff single in the fifth and Starling Marte’s walk to start the seventh were the only baserunners permitted by Musgrove in his first postseason start.

    Robert Suarez and Josh Hader finished up for the Padres.

    Musgrove grew up a Padres fan in the San Diego suburbs and pitched the franchise’s first no-hitter last year in his second start with the team.

    He was working on a one-hitter and warming up for the sixth inning Sunday when Mets manager Buck Showalter came out of the dugout and spoke to first base umpire Alfonso Marquez.

    All six umps huddled and then went to the mound as Marquez, the crew chief, felt Musgrove’s glove, cap — even his ears — apparently searching for any illegal sticky substances.

    The spin rate was up on all six of Musgrove’s pitches. Umpires let him continue, and he worked a 1-2-3 sixth.

    Fans yelled “Cheater!” at Musgrove, a member of the 2017 Houston Astros World Series champions that were found by Major League Baseball to have stolen signs illegally to help their hitters.

    The Astros’ cheating scandal rocked the sport. Musgrove has said he feels uncomfortable wearing his championship ring and wants “one that feels earned” with the Padres.

    “I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” Milwaukee outfielder Andrew McCutchen tweeted. “Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it `sticky.′ Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.”

    THINKING OF MR. PADRE

    During batting practice, San Diego second baseman Jake Cronenworth wore an old-school Tony Gwynn No. 19 uniform T-shirt, a giveaway at Petco Park one day this season.

    “We all got ‘em,” Cronenworth said. “Usually a lot of us wear ’em, but I think everybody’s wearing hoodies today.”

    Cronenworth, however, figured this was a day to salute the late Padres Hall of Famer.

    “It was just in my locker and I brought it with me for a reason, so I decided I’d wear it,” he said. “Tony was one of the best, so give us some support from up above.”

    TRAINER’S ROOM

    Mets: Francisco Lindor was shaken up after fouling a ball off the inside of his right knee in the fourth. As the star shortstop was checked by an athletic trainer, manager Buck Showalter strolled to the plate, picked up Lindor’s bat and handed it back to him. Lindor stayed in the game and struck out.

    UP NEXT

    San Diego went 5-14 against the first-place Dodgers this season and finished 22 games behind them in the NL West.

    New York begins its spring training schedule next year with split-squad games Feb. 25 against Miami and Houston. The regular-season opener is March 30 at Miami.

    ———

    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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