Photo by Chris Simon
Good morning, Mets fans!
The New York Mets head to Milwaukee on Friday to take on the Milwaukee Brewers to begin a three-game series at American Family Field. Tylor Megill (3.5 4.57) takes the mound for the Mets to start the series.
The club comes into the series in desperate need of some wins. They have a record of 73-79 and have just 10 games to play in their season. They sit 7.5 games out of the lead in the National League East Division and are 10 games out in the division. They have won just twice in the last eight games.
The Brewers, meanwhile, have clinched a playoff spot and lead the National League Central division. They have a record of 91-62 and a 7.5 game lead in the division. Left-hander Eric Lauer (6-5 3.03) is the scheduled starter for the Brewers on Friday.
Latest Mets News
James McCann’s season at the plate has not gone the way many expected. Tim Britton of The Athletic discusses what went wrong with McCann’s season and how to fix some of the problems that occurred in 2021.
Thursday’s scheduled game for the Syracuse Mets against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders was postponed due to rain. This comes a day after Wednesday night’s game was suspended due to weather. That means there will be extra baseball for the clubs on Friday and Saturday.
Friday will begin with Wednedsay’s suspended game. The game will start with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, just as it left off before the rainout. Both games on Friday will be nine innings. On Saturday, the teams will play two seven inning games, starting with the make up game from Thursday and finishing with the regularly scheduled game on Saturday.
Latest MLB News
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic is reporting that the Arizona Diamondbacks have extended the contract of manager Torey Lovullo. The extension ensures Lovullo will be back for the 2022 season and in addition, there will be a club option for 2023.
Lovullo has been the skipper of the D-backs since the 2017 season. He has a career record of 333-365 and made the playoffs in the 2016 season. In 2021, Arizona has a record of 49-104 and are in last place in the National League West division.
Major League Baseball will be experimenting with a new baseball for the final ten games of the Triple-A season Baseball America is reporting. MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword said that a handful of teams in the league will use a pre-tacked baseball. The organization also reported that MLB will experiment with a lot of different rules for the upcoming Arizona Fall League.
The Toronto Blue Jays have designated infielder Jake Lamb for assignment. The Jays needed the 40-man roster spot after Breyvic Valera returned from the COVID-19 IL. Lamb was picked up off of waivers by the Jays from the Chicago White Sox on September 3. In 12 games with Toronto Lamb had four hits in 31 at-bats with a homer and six RBIs.
The Blue Jays also made news for other reasons. Manager Charlie Montoyo and reliever Ryan Borucki were suspended for their role in a Wednesday night’s eighth inning incident involving Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier.
Montoyo received a one game suspension and a fine, while Borucki got a three game suspension for intentionally hitting Kiermaier with a pitch on Wednesday. Montoyo missed Wednesday’s game against the Twins to serve the suspension. The incident came just two days after Kiermaier picked up a game-plan card that was dropped by Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk.
Latest on MMO
The Mets have lost a member of their coaching staff. Matthew Newman has more.
Although the Mets have not performed the way the team had hoped in the last month of the season, infielder Javier Baez has. Drew Rosen discusses whether or not Baez has done enough to stay in New York after this season.
Pete Alonso has been the Mets most consistent offensive player in 2021. His power numbers are something that is rarely seen in this organization. Matt Musico breaks down Pete’s power numbers and see how they stack up with other power hitters in the Mets organization.
On This Date in Mets History
The Mets clinched their first ever division title on this date in 1969. Gary Gentry threw a complete game shutout, giving up just four hits against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium. Offensively, the Mets hammered Cardinals starter Steve Carlton, knocking him out of the game in the first inning after only recording one out. Donn Clendenon hit a three-run homer and Ed Charles wacked a two-run shot to give the Mets a 5-0 lead after the first inning. That was all Gentry needed as he shut the Cardinals down. After the game, the Mets would celebrate on their home field winning the first ever National League East title.
Mets third baseman Howard Johnson set a major league record on this date in 1991. On September 24, 1991 Johnson hit his 37th home run of the season in the Mets 10-8 loss to Pittsburgh Pirates. HoJo broke his old record for most home runs by a switch-handed hitter in the National League, which he had set in 1989 when he hit 36 bombs. Johnson would finish the season with 38 blasts becoming the first NL switch-hitter to lead the league in that category.
Birthdays: Drew Smith (28), Hunter Strickland (33), Bernard Gilkey (55), Hubie Brooks (65)
Let’s go Mets!
