Morning Briefing: The Return of Thor

Tonight, the Mets will take on the Washington Nationals in the second game of their final home series. Noah Syndergaard will get the start for the Mets and will face Stephen Strasburg. Syndergaard will throw one inning and Matt Harvey will take over from there. This is Syndergaard’s first MLB appearance since

Last night, the Mets pulled off a 6-1 comeback win against the Nats. Travis d’Arnaud homered twice in the win, including a game tying three-run home run in the fifth inning. The bullpen pitched four scoreless innings. Things got dicey in the ninth when AJ Ramos could not finish the frame. With first and third and one out, Terry Collins called on Josh Smoker who got Adam Lind to pop out. Jeurys Familia then fanned Victor Robles on a nasty sinker for his first save since May 5.

Latest Around Baseball

As you may know, a young girl was struck with a line drive in the Yankees and Twins game on Wednesday. Since then, three teams have committed to adding protective nets for 2018. Todd Frazier, the one who hit the line drive, said it should be a “no-brainer” to add the extra netting. Some like Brad Ziegler have been very vocal on why it should be added. The ball travels so fast of the bat and people will have a tough time reacting even if they are paying full attention at the game.

The Los Angeles clinched the National League West last night. The Diamondbacks have all but locked up the first wild card spot but the Rockies still have to deal with the Brewers and Cardinals. Those three teams are vying for the final spot in the National League.

The MLB Players Association is donating $1 million to the disaster relief efforts in the Americas. The most recent tragedy being Hurricane Maria.

Check out the hidden ball trick the Blue Jays pulled off on the Yankees.

Latest Mets News

As mentioned above, Noah Syndergaard will make his return to the mound tomorrow. He will throw one inning and that will be all. Syndergaard has thrown bullpens, simulated games and had a rehab assignment en route back from a partial lat tear.

Latest NL East News

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post has the latest on Shawn Kelley.

Derek Jeter is already making changes in Miami. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, he had departing President David Samson fire Jack McKeon, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez and Andre Dawson.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes about the up in the air future of Brian Snitker.

Matt Gelb talks about Yacksel Rios‘ concerns about his family in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria.