What a win! The Mets looked lifeless for the first eight innings of the rubber game against the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon, going into the ninth with no hits. However, Bowden Francis, who was looking to complete his no-hit bid, was rudely greeted by the potential NL MVP Francisco Lindor. Lindor ripped a fastball into the right field bleachers to tie the game at one apiece. Francisco Alvarez would give the Mets some much needed insurance with a three-run bomb, leading the Mets to a 6-2 win. Click here for the full game recap.

Lindor, who has come up aces seemingly every time the Mets have needed him, continues to do so in a pivotal playoff push. The Mets star shortstop came into this game with only two hits in his last five games, but after his 0-for-3 start, he was ready to turn the game around. Lindor’s ability to contribute with his glove on an everyday basis, plus his continued clutch play at the dish, have put him in a serious race for the National League MVP.

After an exciting win in Canada, the Mets will have an off day in Philadelphia as they prepare to face the Phillies for a three-game weekend set. Jose Quintana (8-9, 4.09 ERA) is lined up to face Aaron Nola (12-7, 3.41 ERA) in the opening game of the series in Philly on Friday.

Photo by Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Wild Card Update 

With their win over Toronto and the Braves losing in Washington on Wednesday night, the Mets are now a full game up on Atlanta for the third and final Wild Card spot.

The Diamondbacks thrashed the Rangers by a score of 14-4, keeping their lead over the Mets at two games. The Padres lost to the Mariners, 5-2, so Arizona leapfrogged a half-game ahead of them for the first Wild Card spot.

Latest Mets News

With some key matchups coming up, the Mets are manipulating their pitching staff in order to have Luis Severino, David Peterson and Sean Manaea lined up to face the Braves in the penultimate series of the season, per Tim Britton of The Athletic.

The Mets wore first responder hats on Wednesday to honor all of the lives lost and effected by 9/11. 

Honoring and remembering the heroes 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4sjw0QXDmi

— New York Mets (@Mets) September 11, 2024

With his game-tying home run on Wednesday, Lindor became the fourth player this season to break a no-hit bid with a home run in the ninth inning or later, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com. This is the first time this has ever happened four times or more in a season on record.

Latest MLB News

Dave Roberts told reporters that former Mets and current Dodgers LHP Anthony Banda fractured his pitching hand by punching a “solid object” after another frustrating outing, per David Vassegh of SportsNetLA. Banda has struggled as of late, allowing seven runs and 10 hits in his last four outings, and is now on the IL with slim hope that he will be able to return this season. 

The Atlanta Braves placed starting pitcher Reynaldo López on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This move effectively ends Lopez’s breakout regular season, where he had posted a 2.03 ERA in 128 2/3 IP.

Tampa Bay Rays RHP Edwin Uceta was given a three-game suspension and fined for intentionally throwing at Nick Castellanos of the Phillies on Tuesday night, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Rays manager Kevin Cash was suspended for Wednesday night’s game as well.

Current Red Sox and former Mariners, Yankees, and Dodgers southpaw starting pitcher James Paxton plans to retire at the end of the 2024 season, per Rob Bradford of Baseball Isn’t Boring. Paxton, who has spent 11 years in the big leagues, was placed on the 60-day IL last month and would likely only return if the Red Sox made the postseason. 

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington told reporters that current manager Derek Shelton is “the right person to manage this team in 2025,” confirming Shelton’s return to the club next season, per Kevin Gorman of Tribune-Review Sports. The Pirates were in the Wild Card race prior to August, where they went 8-19, subsequently falling out of the postseason race.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who rarely speaks publicly, told the media that “solutions won’t happen overnight” in the midst of Chicago’s historically bad season, per Jesse Rogers of ABC 7.

Latest on MMO

Brandon Nimmo gives his thoughts on being moved down in the lineup.

The Mets’ offense could use a September wake-up call!

A Canadian comeback brought the Mets back into the final Wild Card spot.

On This Date in Mets History

2021: Francisco Lindor hits three home runs and drives in five runs in a Mets win over the Yankees. With this performance, Lindor became the first player to hit three home runs in a Subway Series bout.

2019: The Mets set a franchise record by hitting six home runs in a home game. Juan Lagares homered twice while Todd Frazier, Tomás Nido, Robinson Canó and Michael Conforto all hit long balls in a 11-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

2009: The Mets complete a roaring comeback against the Phillies by scoring six runs in the last three innings at Citizens Bank Park. David Wright led the charge with two home runs, the second giving the Mets the lead with two outs in the ninth inning.

1984: Dwight Gooden breaks Herb Score‘s rookie strikeout record by throwing his 246th strikeout of the season. Gooden finished his rookie season with 276 strikeouts.

Born On This Date: Luis Castillo (1975), Tito Navarro (1970), Keith Hughes (1963), Mario Ramirez (1957), Mickey Lolich (1940).

The post Morning Briefing: Francisco Lindor’s MVP Bid Continues appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets are rolling.

With a 9-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Mets earned a series sweep over the Buccos and have now won four straight series to get back over .500. Luis Severino had another solid outing and the offense continued swinging their hot bats during their four-game win streak. Click here for a full breakdown of the Mets’ win on Wednesday.

Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Now, the Mets are heading out west as they have to go on one of those vaunted west coast trips. After their 0-5 start it seemed as though this would be an impossible task, but after winning 10 of their last 13, the Mets will go into California with momentum.

Starting on Friday, New York will go to Dodger Stadium and face reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani and the other prize of this past offseason, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in a three-game set. After facing the struggling Dodgers, who have lost three of their last four series, they will head up the coast to San Francisco to take on the third-place Giants. 

After bouncing back the past two weeks, even a split of these next six games would leave the Mets in a great spot for their next homestand. What’s your prediction for the Mets’ west coast trip?

Latest Mets News

The early reports on Brett Baty are encouraging and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza believes he will be able to avoid the IL, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. Baty left Tuesday’s game against the Pirates with left hamstring tightness.

The Mets announced that they have claimed Michael Tonkin off of waivers from the Minnesota Twins and have DFA’d Tyler Jay. Click here for more information on the transaction.

Mets RHP prospect Christian Scott joins Baseball America‘s top 100 list. Click here for more information.

Laura Albanese of Newsday dove deeper into Mets fan, “The Rally Pimp,” and how his aura has helped turn the Mets’ season around. 

Michael Clair of MLB.com wrote an article about the possibility of bringing baseball to Wrexham AFC as the Mets and Phillies prepare to face off in London this season.

Jack Fisher, who was the starting pitcher for the Mets for the first game at Shea Stadium, threw out the first pitch at Wednesday’s game, 60 years later. Click here for a flashback to that game 60 years ago.

Latest MLB News

Robert Stephenson will miss the season with an elbow injury, the Angels announced.

Justin Verlander will be coming off the IL and is planning to make his first start of the season for the Houston Astros on Friday against the Washington Nationals, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock was placed on the 15-day IL with a left oblique strain. To fill the spot, they called up LHP Joe Jacques from Triple-A Worcester.

The Colorado Rockies placed former MVP Kris Bryant on the 10-day IL (retroactive to April 14) with a low back strain. They subsequently recalled outfielder Sean Bouchard from Triple-A Albuquerque. 

The San Diego Padres placed their all-star pitcher, Yu Darvish, on the 15-day IL (retroactive to April 15) with neck tightness. They called up RHP Logan Gillaspie from Triple-A El Paso to take his spot.

The Cleveland Guardians sent cash considerations to the San Diego Padres and received RHP Pedro Avila in return. 

The Seattle Mariners reinstated INF/OF Sam Haggerty from the 10-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma.

Mike Trout tells Alden González of ESPN.com, a trade “hasn’t even crossed my mind.” González added that Trout seems hellbent on proving that he’s still elite and can bring the Angels to the playoffs.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that catcher Joey Bart was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup as he has not felt well after getting hit in the head with a home run in batting practice, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The incident happened while Bart was catching in the bullpen.

Latest on MMO

Metsmerized is giving away a rally pimp T-shirt on Twitter. The Rally Pimp will also be joining the MMO podcast this week!

Metsmerized Online continues to remember the founder of the website, Joe D., a year later.

Read up on the Mets 9-1 win against the Pirates, claiming their first sweep of the season!

On This Date in Mets History

2014: The Mets trade first baseman and former first-round pick Ike Davis to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Zach Thornton and a player to be named later (Blake Taylor). Davis hit .241 with 68 home runs during his time in Queens. 

Birthdays: Brady Clark (51), Rico Brogna (54), Doug Flynn (73)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Have Won 10 of 13 appeared first on Metsmerized.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets are close to completing their third and final round of interviews that involve Fred Wilpon.

Eduardo Perez, Derek Shelton, and Carlos Beltran have already met with Wilpon. The only one who hasn’t is Tim Bogar, who likely will very shortly after the conclusion of the World Series on Wednesday night.

While those four are believed to be the quartet still involved in the managerial search, Sherman notes that it’s possible Pat Murphy and Luis Rojas met with Fred Wilpon too.

The post Mets Almost Done With Third Round of Interviews appeared first on Metsmerized.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, New York Mets brass plans on bringing in Minnesota Twins bench coach Derek Shelton for a third managerial interview.

As of Monday afternoon, four candidates are known to have reached the third round of interviews: Shelton, Yankees special adviser Carlos Beltran, Nationals first-base coach Tim Bogar, and ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez. As per Sherman, this level features a “sit down with [Mets majority owner] Fred Wilpon”.

Shelton, 49, began his coaching career in the Yankees’ minor league system (2000 to 2002) before spending five seasons as Cleveland’s hitting coach (2005 to 2009). After departing from Cleveland, Shelton took the same position with the Tampa Bay Rays (2010 to 2016), then spent a season as the Blue Jays’ quality control coach.

Paul Molitor added Shelton as his bench coach in Minnesota ahead of the 2018 season and Rocco Baldelli kept him on staff for his first season managing the Twins in 2019.

We’ll keep you posted with new information as it becomes available.

The post Derek Shelton Added To List Of Mets’ Third-Round Interviewees appeared first on Metsmerized.

Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the Mets managerial search has been narrowed to four known names, with Luis Rojas being removed from consideration.

Rojas, 38, was the Mets’ quality control coach in 2019 and was the manager for Double-A Binghamton from 2017-2018. He is very highly regarded within the organization, but it remains to be seen where he fits within the organization in 2020.

The remaining candidates for the Mets’ managerial position are Eduardo Perez, Tim Bogar, Derek Shelton, and Carlos Beltran.

The post Puma: Luis Rojas No Longer Candidate For Mets’ Manager Job appeared first on Metsmerized.

By Tim Ryder 

As the New York Mets continue to move forward in their search for jettisoned skipper Mickey Callaway‘s replacement, the team’s initial round of interviewees continues to grow.

After confirming meetings with Diamondbacks farm director Mike Bell, Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, former Flushing standout Carlos Beltran, and seasoned veteran Joe Girardi, earlier this week, updates are now beginning to trickle out regarding the timing of the Mets’ vetting process.

According to SNY, Girardi, 54 will indeed meet with Mets brass next week and, as per Andy Martino of SNY, Beltran, 42, already met with the team on Thursday.

There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding Girardi and the Mets, as his experience at the helm — as well as the glowing recommendation he received from his former employer, Yankees GM Brian Cashman — would appear to be a perfect fit for this team.

But on Friday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tabbed Beltran as a “very serious candidate” for the vacancy in Queens.

Beltran has no managerial experience, but, in all fairness, neither did Rocco Baldelli, Aaron Boone, Alex Cora (who’s publicly lauded Beltran’s addition to the Yanks’ front office), Dave Martinez, Craig Counsell, Dave Roberts, or Kevin Cash. And they all did pretty well for themselves.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com confirmed on Friday evening that current quality control coach and longtime organizational mainstay, Luis Rojas, “is on the Mets’ list of managerial interviewees”, also alluding to “others we don’t know about”.

Rojas’ innate knowledge of this organization, as well as his experience working with a large portion of the Mets’ core, must be appealing to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen & Co., but will it be enough to usurp Girardi and Beltran as the apparent front-runners? We shall see.

As always, keep it locked onto MMO for continuing coverage of the Mets’ search for their next manager.

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