Good morning Mets fans! The New York Mets (77-73) left Citi Field on Sunday with their postseason hopes hanging by a thread, as they stood four games back of a Wild Card. The one silver lining was that 10 of their final 13 games were against teams that already had lost at least 85 games.
However, no game is a guaranteed win and the Colorado Rockies (66-85) proved that by beating the Mets 9-4 to knock them five games behind the second Wild Card. The Mets would need an absolute miracle to make the playoffs at this point in the season.
Latest Mets News
Marcus Stroman (8-13, 3.35 ERA) will get the ball in Game 2 of the teams’ three-game series, looking to build off a solid start in his last outing. Colorado will respond by sending Tim Melville (2-2, 5.16 ERA) to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. EDT with game coverage on SNY, WCBS 880 and ESPN Deportes 1050.
Rene Rivera will start in place of Wilson Ramos during Noah Syndergaard‘s start on Wednesday according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
DiComo also updated the status of Dominic Smith who went down to Florida for some live at-bats at instructional ball to prepare him for a potential Sept. 25 return.
Robert Gsellman is “very” optimistic that he will be able to return before the season ends, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
The Baltimore Orioles announced that they claimed Eric Hanhold off waivers from the Mets, and designated Ty Blach for assignment as a result of the claim.
Latest MLB News
Lucas Giolito is out for the remainder of the season with a mild lat strain, as reported by James Fegan of The Athletic.
Edwin Encarnacion mentioned that his oblique is “feeling better every day,” according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The 36-year-old slugger believes that he will return before the end of the regular season and that he will be ready for the playoffs.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters on Monday that Brandon Woodruff would make his return from his oblique strain to the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation on Tuesday. It will be his first start since July 21.
In the AL Wild Card race, the Oakland Athletics sit in the first Wild Card spot and hold a 1.0-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays who sit in the second Wild Card spot. The Cleveland Indians trail the second Wild Card by 1.5 games.
In the NL Wild Card race, the Washington Nationals hold a 0.5-game lead while in the first Wild Card spot and the Chicago Cubs hold a 1.0-game lead while in the second Wild Card spot. The Brewers (81-69; 1.0 game back), Philadelphia Phillies (76-72; 5.0 games back), Mets (77-73; 5.0 games back), and Arizona Diamondbacks (77-74; 5.5 games back) are all in the hunt.
Latest NL East News
The Atlanta Braves (93-58) remain atop the NL East standings, followed by the Nationals (82-67; 10.0 games back), Phillies (76-72; 15.5 games back), Mets (77-73; 15.5 games back) and Miami Marlins (52-98; 40.5 games back).
The Nationals dropped a game to the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 and the Marlins fell to the Diamondbacks 7-5.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo announced that manager Davey Martinez experienced chest pains on Monday and underwent a cardiac catheterization. He will miss the Nationals’ series against the St. Louis Cardinals and the team does not have expectations for when he may return.
Juan Paez of Fish Stripes took a look at how Marlins’ rookies Isan Diaz, Jordan Yamamoto and Robert Dugger are performing in their first season.
Paul Hagen of PhillyVoice.com wrote about how Phillies fans’ recent attendance at games gives off a sense that the fans do not seem to care about a team in the thick of a playoff race.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Matt Musico analyzed two areas where Justin Wilson has made major improvements.
Ryan Finkelstein wrote about “MMO Players of the Week” Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler and Todd Frazier.
Tim Ryder uploaded another episode of the “Simply Amazin’ Podcast.”
Rob Piersall wrote about how Wheeler did all he could do on Sunday to keep the Mets’ Wild Card hopes alive.
Piersall also wrote a piece on how bringing in Wilson and Seth Lugo for Sunday’s game were the right decisions despite the results.
Piersall also wrote pieces giving a retrospect of being a Mets fan and on how the Mets are suffering from an incomplete offseason and trade deadline.
Joe D. wrote a piece prior to Monday’s game about the Mets’ playoff chances being bleak, but still alive.
John Sheridan continued his “3 Up, 3 Down” series after the Mets’ three-game set with the Dodgers.
Sheridan listed and wrote about the Mets minor league offensive leaders.
This Day in Mets History
1975: Rusty Staub homered off Ray Burris of the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning for his 98th RBI of the season. That RBI helped him surpasses the franchise record set by Donn Clendenon in 1970.
1982: Dave Kingman hit his league-leading 37th home run of the season. The 33-year-old slugger went on to finish the season with a .204 batting average, which was the lowest batting average ever recorded by a player who led the league in homers.
1984: Dwight Gooden struck out 16 batters for the second consecutive start. In doing so, he tied a major league record for most strikeouts in two consecutive games (32) which was shared by Luis Tiant (1968 Cleveland Indians) and Nolan Ryan (1974 Los Angeles Angels).
Birthday(s): John Franco turns 59.
