Good morning, Mets fans!
The Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-2 in the AL Wild Card matchup at Fenway Park Tuesday night. Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber each hit dingers, and Alex Verdugo knocked in the last three runs to lead the Sox offense, while Nathan Eovaldi held the Yankees at bay for 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball.
The Yankees, on the other hand, ended the season with a lackluster offensive performance, save for Giancarlo Stanton, who rocketed two balls off the Green Monster and another over it during garbage time.
The Red Sox will move on to face the Tampa Bay Rays, the No. 1 seed and their division foe, in the AL Division Series starting Thursday. Chris Sale will start for the Sox, and Shane McClanahan–a rookie–will start for the Rays.
Now let’s get into the morning briefing.
Latest Mets News
The New York Post reported that the Mets may speak to Theo Epstein for the president of baseball operations job as soon as this week. On the other hand, Billy Beane addressed Oakland media on Sunday neither confirming nor denying the rumors of his candidacy for the Mets job, though he said “it’s all just press reports.”
Khalil Lee was named as a Triple-A All Star after his season, which ended with a .951 OPS and a 167 wRC+ over 388 plate appearances.
J.D. Davis‘ left-hand surgery went well, according to Justin Toscano.
Today, J.D. Davis underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand. Wishing him a speedy recovery and as normal an offseason as possible. pic.twitter.com/ycjpm57PXQ
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) October 5, 2021
Mets minor leaguers Wilfredo Tovar and Roel Ramirez elected free agency and are free to sign with anyone else now.
Latest MLB News
The Los Angeles Dodgers play the St. Louis Cardinals at home Wednesday night in the National League Wild Card game to determine who advances to the Division Series. The winner will play the San Francisco Giants starting Friday.
The Colorado Rockies signed a couple players to extensions on Tuesday:
- Antonio Senzatela signed a five-year, $50.5 million deal that buys out two years of arbitration, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The 26-year-old has a 4.11 ERA (3.92 FIP) in 230 innings over the last two seasons with Colorado.
- C.J. Cron also inked a deal with the Rockies, notching two years and $14.5 million to stay in Colorado. Cron started the year on a minor-league deal and put in a .905 OPS and 127 wRC+ in 2021. Passan first reported a deal was close and Mark Feinsand reported the terms.
Alcides Escobar, who joined the Nationals in the middle of the season, signed a one-year deal with Washington for the 2022 season, according to the Washington Post‘s Jesse Dougherty.
Latest on MMO
Alex Horowitz gave Aaron Loup and Francisco Lindor the final Players of the Month honors for their performances in September.
John Flanigan wrote about Noah Syndergaard‘s desire to stay in New York as well as Lindor and Javier Baez talking about how they’d enjoy playing together longer.
Flanigan also wrote about how re-signing Marcus Stroman should be one of the Mets’ top priorities this offseason.
On This Date in Mets History
Jerry Grote turns a young 79 today, and follow 1969 World Series champ Gary Gentry turns 75. A couple other Met pitchers, Robert Person (52) and Darren Oliver (51), celebrate birthdays today, too.
In on-the-field history, David Cone tied the National League record for strikeouts (with Tom Seaver and others) in a game when he fanned 19 Phillies on October 6, 1991. That has since been eclipsed in the NL by Max Scherzer and Kerry Wood, who hold the record with Roger Clemens.
