Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning, Mets fans!
And a stellar morning it is. Jacob deGrom takes the mound for the Mets this afternoon.
Friday night, the Mets played a doubleheader against the Phillies and split the day with each team winning a game. The Mets won Game 1 by a score of 2-1 after Dominic Smith hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning to. In Game 2, the Phillies won 2-1 in eight innings. The split puts the Mets at a record of 39-32 while the Phillies are 35-38. The Mets’ lead in the NL East has been extended to four games over the Washington Nationals.
The best pitcher is baseball gets the ball today for the Mets. Jacob deGrom (7-2, 0.50) comes into the day with the best ERA in the majors. So far in 2021 he’s allowed just four earned runs in 72 innings pitched. He looks to continue his dominance against the Philadelphia Phillies for game three of a four game set. The Mets have won all of deGrom’s last seven starts.
Zach Eflin (2-6 4.39) takes the hill for the Phillies. Eflin has been up and down this season. He faced the Mets on May 2 and gave up 10 hits and two earned runs. The Phillies wound up losing the game 8-7.
Latest Mets News
Jonathan Villar was placed on the injured list on Friday, as the Mets announced via their Twitter page. Villar came out of the second game of Monday’s doubleheader against the Braves. It was later revealed that he had a calf strain. The move is retroactive to June 22.
The club called up Travis Blankenhorn from Triple-A Syracuse to take Villar’s spot. Blankenhorn was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on June 1. He’s played in nine major league games for the Mets and Twins.
Mets manager Luis Rojas addressed the status of a few injured players before Friday night’s doubleheader at Citi Field. Pitcher Marcus Stroman expects to make his next start on Monday night in Washington. Stroman left his last start after just one inning due to a hip flexor.
Rojas also stated that J.D. Davis hit off of a tee and took a couple of ground balls during Thursday’s off day. The manager said he is progressing nicely but there is no timetable for his return. It was also revealed that Brandon Nimmo will continue his rehab through the weekend and that he is expected to join the team sometime next week.
The Mets also made a roster move on Friday when they claimed catcher Chance Sisco off of waivers from the Baltimore Orioles. The team announced the news via their Twitter page on Friday. Sisco was designated for assignment by the Orioles on June 18. He has been with the Orioles since 2017 and has played 191 games for the O’s. He was batting .154 with 0 HRs and 3 RBIs in 37 at-bats this season. He will report to Triple-A Syracuse.
In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred J.D. Davis to the 60-Day IL. He is eligible to come off the IL on July 1.
Outfielder Mason Williams has elected free agency rather than accept his assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, our own Jacob Resnick reported.
Williams was designated for assignment last week after the Mets added Jerad Eickhoff to the roster to start Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Williams was placed on waivers and not claimed by any team and elected to try his luck at free agency rather than go back to Syracuse. Williams played in 17 games for the Mets and hit .212 with a homer and one RBI.
Citivision, the big board at Citi Field, had some news during the double-header on Friday. It was announced that the Mets will wear black jerseys sometime in July. No word yet on what game they will appear but it looks like the highly anticipated return of the black jerseys will be a reality next month.
Latest MLB News
The Oakland Athletics placed outfielder and first baseman Mark Canha on the 10-day injured list with a hip strain. Canha came out of Thursday’s 5-1 victory against the Rangers after two innings. Vimael Machin was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take Canha’s spot on the roster.
The Major League Baseball Home Run Derby is down one of it’s biggest stars. Check Fernando Tatis Jr.off the list of participants for the preliminary event of the All-Star game due to a lingering shoulder injury. The news was reported by Dennis Lin of the Athletic.
The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in ten innings on Friday night in Buffalo. It ended the Orioles streak of 20 straight road loses. Matt Harvey started for the O’s and pitched 5.2 innings giving up six hits and three earned runs. He got a no decision. Baltimore scored four runs in the 8th to tie it and won it in 10 innings after a Pat Valaika walked scored the go-ahead run. Cole Culser got the save in relief.
Latest NL East News
The Phillies made a couple of roster moves on Friday ahead of their series with the Mets. Right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz has been called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In 15 games with Lehigh Valley this season, he has pitched to a 1.26 ERA. He has also struck out 23 batters in 14.1 innings pitched. Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia broke the news.
Feliz went to the All-Star game representing the American League in 2010. He was also the American League Rookie of the Year that season. His career was slowed after having undergone Tommy John surgery in 2017, the last year he made an appearance in the big leagues. He has pitched in 357 career games.
The Phillies also called up infielder Nick Maton and relief pitcher Enyel De Los Santos. De Los Santos, however, was the 27th man for the double-header on Friday. To make room for Maton and Feliz on the roster, the Phillies designated pitcher David Hale for assignment and placed pitcher Sam Coonrod on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis.
Manager Joe Girardi also stated that Hector Neris has been removed from the closer role, Todd Zelecki tweeted. The role would go to Jose Alvarado for the near future.
Max Scherzer has seen his name in a lot of trade decisions over the last couple of weeks but an interesting note came out on Friday regarding Scherzer and his status. His agent, the infamous Scott Boras, said that the 37-year old right hander will not waive his no trade clause unless an extension is reached by the team that is trading for him. It may be a moot point anyway as the Nationals have been playing great baseball lately and have gotten themselves back into the thick of things in the National League.
Latest on MMO
Which Met players are All-Star worthy? This week’s MMM Roundtable discusses this topic.
Aaron Nola had a historic day at Citi Field but the Mets spoiled it. Alexis Farinacci has the recap of game 1 of Friday’s double header.
Jonathan Villar is headed to the injured list. Alex Horowitz has more.
On This Date in Mets History
On June 26, 1963, the Mets and the Cubs played to a 14-inning classic in front of 8,183 fans at the Polo Grounds. The clubs were tied at four after nine innings. A Frank Thomas single scored Choo-Choo Coleman to tie the game in the eighth inning. In the top of the 14th, Billy Williams hit a two-run inside the park home run to give the Cubs a 6-4 lead.
However, the Mets would strike back. Cubs reliever Jack Warner gave up two singles and two batters later a Sammy Taylor walk loaded the bases for Tim Harkness facing Jim Brewer. Harkness crushed one down the right field line for a grand slam to give the Mets a walk-off 8-6 victory. It was one of just 14 career home runs Harkness hit in his career. The crowd at the Polo Grounds demanded a curtain call, to which the shy Harkness obliged.
The Mets beat the Yankees 8-3 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on this date in 2004. Cliff Floyd homered off of Tanyon Sturtze in the seventh inning, but the biggest hit of the day belonged to Kaz Matsui who ripped a two-run single off Yankee starter Brad Halsey to give the Mets a 4-2 lead in the fourth. They didn’t look back from there. Al Leiter pitched 6.1 strong, giving up three runs with Ricky Bottalico and Jose Parra being spotless out of the bullpen to give the Mets the victory and bring their record to the .500 mark.
Birthdays: Khalil Lee (24), Drew Gagnon (31), Luis Hernandez (37), Jason Middlebrook (46)
Former Mets coach Bill Robinson was born on this date in 1943. Robinson was the hitting instructor for the Mets from 1984-1989 including being a part of the 1986 World Championship team. He passed away in July 2007.
