Morning Briefing: Mets Come Back Late In Win Over Braves

Good morning, Mets fans!

The Mets won their game last night. How? Well, I’m not really sure (it was clutch hits), but it’s a stark turn around from the previous couple weeks, where the Mets really struggled to score bunches in runs when down late.

Down three runs in the seventh, the Mets scored three on a James McCann homer to tie it, and Francisco Lindor hit the ultimate game winner four batters late on a single that scored José Peraza.

You can read a recap of the game here.

The Mets were just 5-9 in their previous 14 games, but a win last night helped them maintain a three-game lead in the NL East as we head into the last day of June. They’re 14-14 so far in June, a month that’s historically the team’s worst over the last decade or so.

Now let’s get into the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

Jeurys Familia and Tomás Nido both started rehab assignments with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday. Brandon Nimmo is also on the team along with Dellin Betances during their rehabs.

Familia pitched a perfect inning to open Tuesday’s Syracuse game, Nimmo went 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored and Nido, batting second, went 1-for-4.

The Mets called up Thomas Szapucki, their top pitching prospect, and designated Jerraf Eickhoff for assignment on Tuesday. Eickhoff served up four home runs over five innings Monday, and it seems the Mets would rather give a fifth rotation spot to Tylor Megill, who threw five innings Tuesday night, or Szapucki, who both will get chances to earn a spot over the coming week or two.

Latest MLB News

Trevor Bauer is being investigated for assault, according to TMZ.

The alleged victim in the case filed for a “temporary domestic violence restraining order,” according to the article, and was granted the order.

Bauer has denied all allegations and said the encounter with the woman was a consensual one that involved rough sex. His agent, Jon Fetterolf, according to the article says Bauer has text messages from the woman “asking for ‘rough’ sexual encounters involving requests to be ‘choked out’ and slapped in the face.” (Note from the writer: text messages expressing interest in rough sex does not mean a line wasn’t crossed during the encounter. It also doesn’t mean a line was crossed)

His lawyer continued (courtesy of TMZ):

“In both of their encounters, [the accuser] drove from San Diego to Mr. Bauer’s residence in Pasadena, Calif. where she went on to dictate what she wanted from him sexually and he did what was asked. Following each of her only two meetings with Mr. Bauer, [the accuser] spent the night and left without incident, continuing to message Mr. Bauer with friendly and flirtatious banter. In the days following their second and final encounter, [the accuser] shared photos of herself and indicated that she had sought medical care for a concussion. Mr. Bauer responded with concern and confusion, and [the accuser] was neither angry nor accusatory.”

In other legal news, the family of Tyler Skaggs — the pitcher who passed away from an overdose while playing for the Los Angeles Angels — sued the Angels. They say “an Angels employee supplied drugs to multiple players,” one of them Skaggs, which lead to his death, according to the LA Times.

The team, according to the Times, said, “The lawsuits are entirely without merit and the allegations are baseless and irresponsible. The Angels Organization strongly disagrees with the claims made by the Skaggs family and we will vigorously defend these lawsuits in court.”

The Miami Marlins traded Corey Dickerson and Adam Cimber to the Toronto Blue Jays for Joe Panik (remember him??) and Andrew McInvale, a minor-league reliever with a 2.55 ERA across 24.2 innings in High-A and Double-A.

Hector Santiago, whom the Mets formerly purchased the contract of to improve the roster, was officially suspended 10 games (with paid leave) for having a foreign substance on his glove while pitching. He’s the first player to be suspended under Major League Baseball’s new foreign substance policy.

Michael Pineda will make a rehab start for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints on Thursday with the hopes of returning to the Minnesota Twins shortly. Pineda has been on the injured list since June 15 with elbow inflammation. It’s his second IL trip this season. (A writer’s note: He’s on the last year of his deal and only owed about $5 million the rest of the way. He could be a decent risk for the Mets.)

Latest on MMO

With Jacob deGrom as dominate as he’s been over the last three-plus seasons, it’s can be hard to really identify little areas where he’s improved. Well, Matt Musico looks at one way he’s used the strike zone and pitch deception to his advantage this season.

Cam Adams recapped the Mets’ minor-league situation, including the start of the new Florida Complex League.

Jack Ramsey looks into Mark Vientos‘ recently hot streak in Double-A.

John Flanigan gives Pete Alonso and David Peterson the Mets’ Players of the Week honors.

John Jackson analyzed the now-DFA’d Jerrad Eickhoff’s start Monday.

Tom Seaver became the Mets’ franchise leader in wins June 29, 1969, and Rich Sparago wrote about the game Seaver pitched that day.

Beyond the Blog

Locked On Mets: On today’s episode, host Ryan Finkelstein talks about the Mets victory last night and whether Luis Rojas deserves more credit for the job his done managing the team this season. He also breaks down the improvements Tylor Megill flashed in his second big league start.

On This Date in Mets History

Happy June 30 birthday wishes go out to Chan Ho Park (48) and the legendary Ron Swoboda, who celebrates his 77th birthday today.

Also on June 30, this time in 2000, the Mets made one of their best comebacks ever. Playing the Braves (fitting, as that’s what they’re doing now, too), the Mets were down 8-1 in the eighth inning with one out. They quite literally had less than a one percent chance of winning, according to Baseball Reference.

Nine batters later, the Mets were up 11-8, capped off by Mike Piazza‘s three-run home run to put them up for good.

They had Derek Bell and Piazza on first and third when they had one out. Robin Ventura grounded out to score Bell on the next at-bat (8-2). After that, it went: Todd Zeile single to score Piazza (8-3), Jay Patyon single and Benny Agbayani walk to load the bases, three more walks to Mark Johnson, Melvin Mora and Bell to score three runs (8-6), an Alfonzo single scored to to tie it, the Piazza’s homer (11-8).

Hector Neris can blow saves with the best of them (h/t to Keith Hernandez), but Don Wengert and Kerry Ligtenberg — the two pitchers for Atlanta that night — can blow a game like none other.

I mean, just check out that Win Probability chart over the last three frames.

Let’s go Mets!