Morning Briefing: Mets Look To Split Series With Marlins
Good Morning, Mets fans! Jacob deGrom took the mound on Wednesday night and absolutely dominated throwing seven shutout innings and tying a career high with 14 strikeouts. Unfortunately, the bullpen blew a three-run lead in the eighth to squander away another deGrom victory.
Luckily, Wilson Ramos bailed the pen out with a clutch go-ahead RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to give the Mets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Amazins’ will look to split the series with the Marlins in the final game before facing off against the crosstown rival Yankees in a five-game subway matinee over the weekend.
Let’s take a look at what else went on around the league yesterday!
Latest Mets News
Dominic Smith kneeled for the national anthem before last night’s game in response to the Jacob Blake shooting.
Michael Wacha threw his second bullpen session in three-days, which provides optimism for his chances at returning to the rotation soon, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Luis Rojas says Wacha could “possibly” start in the next few days, while all signs point to Steven Matz starting over the weekend as he was unavailable from the bullpen for the second straight day (Tweet from Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News).
Mets coaches are trying to temper the emotions of Jeff McNeil during his current slump, writes Justin Toscano of The Record.
The Mets have left an average of 4.29 runners in scoring position per game this season, which is a league worst, story from SNY.
Rojas got candid with reporters about Amed Rosario‘s struggles at the plate “he’s still chasing too many pitches.” (Video from SNY).
J.D. Davis talked about his discussion with Rojas following the game regarding the play where Jon Berti stole home. (Video from SNY).
The team optioned catcher Patrick Mazeika to their alternate site in Brookyln, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
The schedule for the five-game subway series this weekend, which features Friday and Sunday double headers, was released on Wednesday, tweets from The New York Post‘s Joel Sherman.
Latest MLB News
Following suit of the NBA, the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds decided not to play last night in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting, per Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal.
The Mariners and Padres opted not to play, tweet from ESPN‘s Jeff Passan.
The Dodgers and Giants game was also postponed, tweet from ESPN‘s Jeff Passan.
All games will be made up in double headers on Thursday, tweet from USA TODAY‘s Bob Nightengale.
Jason Heyward decided to sit out last night, as well but encouraged his Cubs teammates to play, tweet from Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.
Rockies DH Matt Kemp did not play either and released the following statement.
Some other notable healthy scratches were Cardinals’ pitcher Jack Flaherty and outfielder Dexter Fowler.
In his first game back from the I.L., Aaron Judge was forced to exit the Yankees night matchup of their doubleheader against the Braves as his calf tightened up again, tweet from MLB.com‘s Bryan Hoch.
Major League Baseball has sent a proposal to the player’s union about playing the postseason in a bubble, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
According to MLB.com‘s Bryan Hoch, Yankee stadium is the first sports venue in the world to achieve the Well Health-Safety Rating from Well Certified, who says the Yankees are well-prepared to start welcoming fans into their ballpark again once authorized to do so by the MLB and state government officials.
The Tampa Bay Rays suffer another big loss to their pitching staff as lefty reliever Jalen Beeks has a torn UCL, story from the Marc Topkin Tampa Bay Times.
The Yankees acquired catcher Rob Brantly from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations and assigned him to their alternate site, per club announcement.
The Cubs released relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera from their alternate site, per Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune.
According to Morosi, the Twins could get their slugger Byron Buxton back from the injured list next week.
Baseball America picks 26 players, who they believe would be making their first ever All-Star appearances in a normal regular season this year.
Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic talked to scouts, who voiced their displeasure about being excluded from team’s alternate sites despite some fans being allowed to attend.
Lindsey Adler of The Athletic says the Yankees player development staff has been hit very hard by layoffs and furloughs brought on by Covid-19.
Baseball America presents five major shakeups we could see in the minor league baseball world.
Latest NL East News
A trio of wounded Washington Nationals, Stephen Strasburg had his carpal tunnel surgery and Starlin Castro had wrist surgery, while Seth Romero is set to undergo hand surgery, per Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic.
Pitcher Ian Anderson, the #3 overall pick in the 2016 draft, made his major league debut for the Braves yesterday squaring off against Gerrit Cole and the Yankees. Anderson threw six innings of one-run ball on his way to his first career victory.
The Phillies traded left-handed pitcher Austin Davis to the Pirates for a player to be named later, per club announcement.
Latest on MMO
Mike Mayer writes about Seth Lugo‘s perfect first start of the season.
On This Day in Mets History
Birthdays: Brian McRae (53), Mike Maddux (59)