The comeback kids win a wild game over Phillies as the Mets take their final series in Philadelphia
The comeback kids win a wild game over Phillies as the Mets take their final series in Philadelphia
Mark Canha came through in the clutch with two home runs late in Sunday's game
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets bounced back from a disappointing doubleheader split with a 10-9 thriller over the Phillies to take the series (box)
Mark Canha was the hero of the game hitting two home runs, one that tied the game at seven apiece in the seventh and another to give the Mets the lead in the ninth
Nate Fisher was another standout against Philadelphia. He was working in a bank a year ago but finally got a chance to make his major league debut and he pitched three scoreless innings for the Mets to save their tired bullpen
José Butto also made is major league debut as the starter in this game and unfortunately did not fare as well. He gave up seven runs in four innings filling in since the Mets were short-handed in the rotation
Jeff McNeil had another three hits while continuing his stellar defensive play in the field
Edwin Díaz had a rare off day and *gasp* gave up a run which ended a streak of 21 straight scoreless innings for the electric closer. The last time he gave up a run was June 18 but he still secured the save which was his 28th of the season
Brandon Nimmo hit his 11th home run of the year in the ninth inning which gave Díaz an insurance run he needed
The Mets went 14-5 against the Phillies this year which ties the most wins they have had against Philadelphia in a single season. The last time they had 14 wins against the Phillies was in 2015
The Mets are 39-25 on the road, 33-15 during the day, 15-7 in August, 28-7-3 in series, 15-4-1 in road series, 17-32 when the opponent scores first, they have 25 comeback wins, 14 wins in their last at-bat, and are 43-19 against the National League East.
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Stephen Nogosek (oblique strain) placed on the IL
LHP Rob Zastryzny sent down to Triple-A Syracuse
LHP Sam Clay designated for assignment
Jose Butto and Nate Fisher had their contracts selected from Triple-A Syracuse
Injury Updates 🏥
Joey Lucchesi (Recovery from Tommy John Surgery) pitched an inning for St. Lucie in a rehab start. His final line was 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 1 K
Who’s Hot 🔥
Jeff McNeil went 3-for-5 with a run scored in the finale against the Phillies. He hit .471/.486/.647 with six doubles in Atlanta and Philadelphia this past week and is hitting .426/.458/.648 over his last 15 games
Francisco Lindor’s extended his hitting streak to seven games. He is hitting .364/.364/.515 with a home run in that span
Starling Marte also had a good week. He went 3-for-5 with a walk, a run scored, and a RBI in the finale against the Phillies which put him at .367/.424/.667 over his last seven games
Mark Canha is hitting .440/.482/.960 with four doubles, three home runs and nine RBI over his last eight games, raising his OPS from .732 to .785 during that span
Playoff Odds Tracker 🎲
The Mets are 79-44 and lead the Braves by four games in the National League East with 39 games to go. They remain on-pace for 104 wins, which would be the second-highest mark in franchise history (108 in 1986)
The Mets have the second-easiest schedule down the stretch of the season (.455 opposing winning percentage, per Tankathon)
Playoff odds (FanGraphs):
Make the playoffs: 100 percent ↔️
Win the National League East: 86.6 percent ⬆️
Clinch a first round bye: 86.3 percent ⬆️
Win the World Series: 17.7 percent ⬆️
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (79-44) at Yankees (74-48)
Where: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
Starters: RHP Max Scherzer (9-2, 2.15 ERA) vs RHP Domingo Germán (1-2, 4.45 ERA)
When: 7:05 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
Mark Your Calendars 🗓
Join Amazin’ Avenue’s, “A Pod of Their Own” for the Fourth Annual Dollars for Dingers fundraiser.
When: September 17, 2022 at 4:00pm
Where: Ebbs at Citi Field
All proceeds will benefit the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Come for the awesome raffle prizes stay for the Mets game at 7:00pm.
If you cannot attend the event but would like to participate, A Pod of Their Own is asking Mets fans (fans of other teams welcome too!) to commit to making a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline for every dinger the Mets hit throughout the month of September. Pledges have gotten creative in the past so feel free to come up with your own extra pledge as well. For example last season in addition to home runs, I pledged extra money for every Aaron Loup Busch Lite appearance. Please reach out if you are interested in participating or have any questions about the event or the fundraiser.
These aren’t the 2021 Mets - they are the comeback kids… 📝
The Mets went down to Georgia and had both their soul and good vibes stolen. Between the injuries and the lost battle, it was a disaster of a series for them against a Braves team who once again showed that championship mettle that helped them to a title in 2021.
After a late night flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia on Thursday, the sleepy Mets had to quickly turn the page since the Phillies were on deck and the Mets could i’ll-afford back-to-back poorly played series. The schedule, weather, and injuries did not help matters and the Mets were facing a perfect storm that would’ve sunk previous Mets teams.
In fact, one does not have to look any further than last season when injuries to Francisco Lindor and Jacob deGrom doomed the Mets in July. Then of course came the Jerad Eickoff game on July 27, 2021 against the Braves where they lost 12-5 against a surging Atlanta team and a team the Mets couldn’t put in their rearview mirror. Back then they had played a doubleheader, one of which was a bullpen game, Carlos Carrasco was hurt, and Eickhoff was the only option left for the team. After that series, the Braves ended up buying instead of selling at the trade deadline and for the rest of the year the teams went in opposite directions.
Fast forward 13 months and here were were after another disastrous Atlanta series and a minor league pitcher making a start as the only option the team had left.
His name is José Buttó and he is the Mets 15th best prospect, per MLB.com. Buttó was thrown right into the fire of a pennant race to make his major league debut and unfortunately for him it did not go well. He gave up seven runs in four innings (including two three-run home runs to Alec Bohm) which was less than ideal for the team with a gassed bullpen and having split the doubleheader the day before.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Mets looked every bit a tired team that had gotten knocked around in Atlanta. They were able to get to both Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler (who went a combined 0-7 against the Mets in 2022, by the way), but what started out looking like a winnable series fading fast after the Mets got down early.
However, these are not the 2021 Mets.
The Mets responded with two immediate runs in the top of the second, one in the third and then one in the fourth to tie the game. Their offseason acquisitions in Starling Marte and Mark Canha helped drive Sunday’s comeback but it was Canha who took charge of the offense on Sunday.
After falling back down by three runs thanks to Bohm’s second three-run home run of the game, Nate Fisher, who was working as a banker a year ago, came through with three scoreless innings and relieved an overworked bullpen. Then in the seventh, Canha completed the second comeback of the afternoon for New York with a three-run home run off of Connor Brogdon to tie the game at seven.
But wait, there’s more!
Trevor May - who has had a functionally lost season to-date for the Mets - came in and immediately surrendered a go-ahead home run to long-time Mets killer Jean Segura and again, the wind seemingly was blowing against the Mets sails. May hung his head while the Phillies dugout exploded.
But again, these aren’t the 2021 Mets.
Phillies manager opted to go with his closer David Robertston who had thrown 36 pitches over two innings in their win on Saturday night, and it immediately looked like a poor choice when Jeff McNeil laced what seemed like his 100th double of the week into the right field corner.
Then, after a long battle with Robertson, Mark Canha got a pitch he could hit and made Robertson pay with a go-ahead two-run home run to give the Mets their first lead of the afternoon and capping Canha’s finest week as a Met.
Fortunately for the Mets, they tacked on another thanks to a Brandon Nimmo solo home run because the Phillies came roaring back in the ninth with an aggressive approach against Edwin Díaz and nearly tied the game before he was able to shut the door.
Once again, these aren’t the 2021 Mets.
The 2022 Mets finds ways to overcome negativity and adversity, and they certainly were on-brand in their ability to overcome everything that had gone wrong both in the game and in the past week. They managed a series win in Philadelphia and a 4-4 road trip, this after losing two starting pitchers in a span of two days last Monday and Tuesday, navigating a doubleheader with their sixth and seventh starters, three players making their big league debuts under the spotlight (and two pitchers in a row at that on Sunday), and what was effectively five bullpen games in eight games against divisional opponents.
It was a test of character and guile and while a 4-4 mark isn’t the flashiest of records, it’s hard to not see that character and guile show through this week.
It takes all twenty-five guys and then some to win and and the series finale against the Phillies was perfect evidence of that. Nate Fisher - who was making his big league debut after hope was nearly lost for his baseball career - was the unsung hero on August 21. Michael Pérez - who wasn’t even a blip on the Mets radar in the spring - came through with a big hit in this series. All-told, this team bounced back after both a brutal series against its closest divisional opponent and a loss against its next closest rival following the book definition of team winning.
On paper this looks like a dominant team as their 79-44 record might suggest. But in reality they have had to be resilient, a trait that should help carry them through the rest of the season and beyond.
Down on the Farm 🌾
Mark Vientos (3B, No. 7 Prospect, Triple-A): 4-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 runs scored
Ronny Mauricio (SS, No. 3 Prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4, RBI, 2 runs scored
Daniel Palka (RF, Triple-A): 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, run
Box Scores: Triple-A | Double-A | Single-A | Low-A
Around the League 🚩
The Braves dropped their finale against the Astros with a 5-4 loss
Marcel Ozuna was back in the Atlanta lineup just two days after being arrested for a DUI and heard boos from the home crowd
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to seven games with a 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks - they lead the NL Central by five games over the Brewers who defeated the Cubs 5-2 at Wrigley Field on Sunday
The Orioles and Red Sox played the in the Little League Classic and met with players from the Little League World Series before the game. The Orioles defeated Boston in an exciting game
The Phillies and Nationals will be the two teams participating in next year’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA
Philadelphia placed closer Seranthony Dominguez on the IL with triceps tendinitis
Angels star Shohei Ohtani exited his start early with a stomach virus