Good morning, Mets fans!

The Mets welcome the high-flying Tampa Bay Rays to Citi Field for a three-game series beginning today. Justin Verlander (1-1, 2.25 ERA) will make his first home start as a Met against Jalen Beeks (1-2, 5.40 ERA), who will be used as an opener. Yonny Chirinos is expected to come in after Beeks and work the bulk of the innings. Verlander has made two starts as a visitor at Citi Field, the most recent of which came last June for the Astros when he tossed eight shutout innings.

The Rays own the best record in baseball at 31-11, five games clear of their closest competitors. They’ve scored the most runs in the majors and have allowed the fewest, giving them a plus-120 run differential. The last time the Mets and Rays faced off was in Tampa Bay in 2021 when the Rays swept a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Latest Mets News

David Peterson struggled again on Monday, giving up six runs on nine hits in five innings as the Mets dropped their series finale with the Nationals, 10-3. They finish their 13-game stretch against sub-.500 teams just 4-9 and haven’t won a series since April 17-19 against the Dodgers. The Mets also went the entire series in Washington without hitting a homer, marking it the first time since 2013 that they didn’t homer in a four-game series. As for Peterson, his ERA ballooned to an MLB-worst 8.08, and the team is now 1-7 in his starts.

Buck Showalter said to reporters on Monday that while Mark Vientos is tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A, he hopes the 23-year-old is improving at playing third base. That position was previously occupied by Brett Baty. Through 37 games this season, Vientos is hitting .331/.416/.676 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs.

MLB Pipeline revealed their updated Top 100 Prospects, with five Mets farmhands making the list. As MMO’s John Sheridan writes, Francisco Álvarez has graduated from his prospect status, leaving Brett Baty the highest-ranked Mets prospect at 10th overall. Kevin Parada checked in at number 28, Alex Ramírez was ranked at 82, Jett Williams checked in at 91, and Ronny Mauricio rejoined the rankings at number 97.

Latest MLB News

The Brewers have signed former Met Darin Ruf to a one-year contract. Ruf re-signed with the Giants after the Mets released him at the end of spring training, but San Francisco designated him for assignment last week. In 27 plate appearances, Ruf hit .261/.370/.348 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Giants.

The Braves claimed right-hander Dereck Rodríguez off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinett. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta moved Kyle Wright to the 60-day injured list. Rodríguez is the son of Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodríguez.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said left-hander Carlos Rodón is scheduled for another injection for his back this week, which may or may not be needed. Boone said everything has gone according to plan, and that the doctors suggested a second round.

Anthony Rendon is going on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain. The Angels have called up Livan Soto from Double-A and activated Chad Wallach from the concussion IL.

Mariners backstop Cal Raleigh homered from both sides of the plate in Seattle’s 10-1 win against the Red Sox in Boston on Monday night. By doing so, Raleigh became the first catcher ever to homer from both sides of the plate in a single game at Fenway Park.

The A’s have reached an agreement to put their new ballpark on part of the site of the current Tropicana property in the Las Vegas Strip. The project is going to cost approximately $1.5 billion and the club is asking for at least $400 million in public funding. The stadium will reportedly hold 30,000 seats on the 30-acre site.

Astros southpaw Framber Valdez has become known in the Houston clubhouse as “La Grasa” and is very comfortable expressing himself. Chandler Rome of The Athletic writes about Valdez and his presence for the club.

Latest on MMO

Gianna Arantes recaps the Mets’ loss in their series finale with the Nationals.

Jack Markowski writes about the weeks that Justin Verlander and Pete Alonso had to earn MMO’s Players of the Week.

Christian De Block looks at how the Mets’ offense put up their biggest inning of the year in Sunday’s win.

On This Date in Mets History

1983: Darryl Strawberry clubs his first major league home run, a two-run shot off Pirates right-hander Lee Tunnell. Hubie Brooks and José Oquendo both drive in three runs as the Mets beat Pittsburgh 11-4.

2015: The Mets bust their five-game losing streak with a 10-run fourth inning against the Brewers, featuring a grand slam by Wilmer Flores, who batted ninth in the lineup. Jacob deGrom collects three hits and an RBI to go along with six solid innings in a 14-1 victory. Kevin Plawecki and Curtis Granderson chip in with homers of their own, and every player in the starting lineup records at least one hit.

Birthdays: Frank Seminara (56), Jerrod Riggan (48)