Mandatory Credit: Kam Nedd-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning, Mets fans!
The Mets closed out Citi Field in style on Thursday with a dominating victory over the Miami Marlins winning by a score of 12-3. Pete Alonso hit two homers and Francisco Lindor rocketed a grand-slam on a memorable night in Queens.
For Alonso it was home runs number 36 and 37 on the season. He will try and reach 40 this weekend in Atlanta. Lindor’s blast was his 20th of the season, becoming just the second shortstop in club history to hit 20 or more home runs in a season.
At the end of the game Met fans paid tribute to Michael Conforto who went 3 for 5 and had a nice diving catch in the ninth inning. Conforto has played seven years in New York and is a pending free agent. Thursday night could have been his last game played at Citi Field and while Conforto was walking off the field, Met fans gave him a standing ovation.
Starting pitcher Rich Hill got his first win as a Met, going five innings giving up two earned runs on six hits. Brad Hand, Miguel Castro, Trevor May and Heath Hembree all threw in relief of Hill to secure the victory.
The Mets begin their final series of the season on Friday night as they head to Truist Park in Atlanta to start a three-game series against the Braves. Tylor Megill (3-6 4.78) will make his final start of the season for the Mets, who come into the game with a record of 76-83.
Huascar Ynoa (4-5 3.98) gets the ball for the Braves who clinched the National League Eastern division on Thursday. They have a record of 86-72.
Latest Mets News
The New York Mets have announced their starting rotation for their final series of the season in Atlanta. Rookie Tylor Megill will get the start on Friday with Trevor Williams and Noah Syndergaard finishing out the rotation. Syndergaard pitched an inning on in his start on Tuesday, making his season debut.
Baseball America released their top 10 prospects from the Low-A Southeast League on Thursday and Mets center field prospect Alex Ramirez was ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the league. Ramirez hit .258 in Port St. Lucie this season with 5 HR and 35 RBIs. He played 76 games, including 70 in the outfield. The Dominican Republic native is just 18 years old.
Former Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson was on the podcast “Untold Stories” with host Hookah Doncic this week. On the podcast Granderson told stories about what it was like being black in a Major League Baseball clubhouse and shared some of his favorite memories during his career.
Latest MLB News
St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt confirmed on Thursday that veteran starter Adam Wainwright will get the start in their wildcard matchup on Wednesday night. The Cardinals have clinched a spot in the wildcard game following a 17-game winning streak that ended earlier this week. They will play either the Dodgers or the Giants.
The Boston Red Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 6-2 on Thursday night. Ryan Mountcastle hit a three-run homer off of Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta to give the Os the lead and they never looked back. The loss drops the Red Sox record to 89-70 and they now find themselves tied for the second wildcard spot with the Seattle Mariners. The Red Sox head to the nation’s capital this weekend to start a three-game set against the Washington Nationals. The Mariners finish the regular season at home against the Los Angeles Angels.
The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Thursday to give them some breathing room for the first American League wildcard position. The Yankees hit five home runs, two by Aaron Judge and one a piece from Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Brett Gardner. Corey Kluber threw 4.2 innings giving up two runs, but it was the Yankees bullpen who really stood out. Michael King, Luis Severino, Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman all had scoreless outings to give the Yankees the victory. The Yankees now find themselves up two games in the first wildcard spot, with just three games left to play. The Blue Jays are now a game out of the second wildcard spot, behind both the Red Sox and Mariners.
The Houston Astros topped the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Thursday to clinch their fourth American League West division title in five years. Lance McCullers Jr. beat Ryan Yarbrough at Minute Maid Park. Carlos Correa hit his 25th home run of the season. It was a three-run job in the 4th inning and was all the scoring the Astros needed.
Major League Baseball also announced the times of the Wild Card games for both leagues on Thursday. Next Tuesday’s American League Wild Card game will begin at 8:08 p.m. ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN. There will be an alternate statcast-driven broadcast on ESPN2. The first pitch for next Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game will be at 8:10 p.m. ET. That game will be show on TBS. Both games will have a one-hour pregame show on their respected networks.
Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas has purchased a controlling interest in Go the Distance Baseball, LLC, the venture that owns the All-Star Baseball Heaven and the Field of Dreams movie set. Thomas made the purchase along with friend and former Los Angeles Angels General Manager Dan Evans. Thomas will serve as the Chief Executive Officer while Evans will serve as Chief Operating Officer of the venture.
Latest NL East News
The Atlanta Braves clinched the National League East division on Thursday by beating the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 5-3. Jorge Soler and Austin Riley homered for the Bravos and Ian Anderson got the victory going six strong innings. It’s the fourth straight division title for the Braves.
Matt Gelb from The Athletic reported on the toxic culture within the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. Gelb describes the problems inside their minor league systems not off the field but on the field as well.
Latest on MMO
Team President Sandy Alderson gave his season ending press conference on Wednesday. Nate Mendelson writes about the five things we learned from Alderson on Wednesday.
Jeurys Familia‘s sinker is a pitch has is known for. However, in 2021 Familia’s sinker was very hit or miss in 2021. Matt Musico dove deep into the numbers to look at Familia’s sinker from an analytical perspective.
On This Date in Mets History
The Mets clinched the National League East on this day in 1973. In the first game of a scheduled make-up doubleheader at Wrigley Field, a day after the regular season ended, the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 6 – 1, to capture the National League East flag. The Mets were 11 1/2 games behind and in last place on August 5th but won their 82nd game and clinched the division, making the second game of the twin bill unnecessary.
The Mets stayed alive in the race for the National League East division on this date in 1985. The Mets were facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals, who they trailed by three games for the lead in the division. The Mets were able to keep their season alive with a 1-0 victory in 11 innings. The lone run came on a solo home run by Darryl Strawberry off of Cardinals reliever Ken Dayley. Ron Darling threw nine scoreless innings for the Mets but Cardinals starter John Tudor matched him going ten scoreless innings. Jesse Orosco pitched the 10th and 11th for the Mets to earn the victory.
Birthdays: Brandon Knight (46), John Thomson (48), Chuck McElroy (54), Jeff Reardon (66), Pete Falcone (68), Bob Myrick (69), Buzz Capra (74), Chuck Hiller (1934)
Let’s go Mets!
