Morning Briefing: Mark Vientos Promotion Makes Immediate Impact

Mark Vientos, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Good morning, Mets fans!

The Mets pulled out a thrilling 8-7 win Wednesday night against the Rays, who have the best record in baseball. In the seventh inning, they were down 2-0 and looked to be on their way to yet another loss in what’s been a brutal stretch, but Mark Vientos — in his first game since being promoted — tied it up with a two-run homer. Two innings later, fellow youngster Francisco Álvarez tied it once again with a three-run bomb as the Mets were down to their last out. And Pete Alonso put the final flourish on the gritty victory, smashing a walk-off three-run homer while down by two.

With the series evened up, the Mets will look to take the rubber game today at 1:10 p.m. ET.

Latest Mets News

Álvarez switched agents. As Mike Mayer pointed out, his new agency Rimas Sports was launched by Bad Bunny and already has clients such as Wilmer Flores, Ronny Mauricio and Marco Luciano.

Anthony DiComo of MLB reported on how Tomás Nido is dealing with the vision problems that have plagued him this season.

Jeff McNeil will be interviewed by ESPN during Sunday’s game, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported.

Ed Hearn underwent a successful kidney transplant, Jay Horwitz shared.

Latest MLB News

Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán was suspended 10 games for using a foreign substance during a game, per an AP report.

Former Met Chris Bassitt pitched seven scoreless innings, and has now thrown 27 consecutive scoreless frames, which is the third-longest streak in Blue Jays history. It’s been quite a turnaround for Bassitt after a rough start to the season.

MLB announced a new platform called MLB Together, with Liam Hendriks as ambassador.

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Sam Neumann wrote about Justin Verlander‘s shaky start on Tuesday, one in which he was greeted with boos.

Patrick Glynn pondered this question: Who do you feel good about on this team?

Ross Bentley predicted what the Mets’ lineup would be after calling up Vientos. They didn’t go with his lineup — in fact, they went with their strangest and most controversial lineup of the year on Wednesday — but they still pulled out the win.