Morning Briefing: Mets Clinch Season Series Over Padres

Good morning, Mets fans!

The New York Mets needed a strong start to their crucial ten-game road trip that began Thursday night. They did just that against the San Diego Padres, collecting 17 hits while seven of the nine players in their lineup recorded multi-hit performances, leading to an 8-3 victory. For more, check out our recap!

The Mets clinched a win in the season series against the Padres, giving them the tiebreaker. They gained ground on the top two Wild Card spots with their victory over San Deigo (3 games back) and Arizona (3.5 games back) having the day off. The Braves held on to beat the Phillies, 3-2, leaving the Mets 1.5 games back of the third WC spot.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

As Jeff Passan of ESPN writes, he spoke with Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and those close to him about how he has become the heart and soul of the New York Mets, helping to bring them back into playoff contention.

Mets and Padres are back at it on Friday night with a 9:40 p.m. ET first pitch. Paul Blackburn goes for the Mets, and Joe Musgrove goes for the Padres. Reliever Dedniel Núñez is expected to be activated before the game.

Latest MLB News

Japanese baseball players seek to accelerate their path to free agency and are preparing to file a legal challenge against Nippon Professional Baseball’s reserve system. If they succeed, NPB players could join Major League Baseball earlier in their careers, bypassing the need to go through the posting process, writes Evan Drelich of The Athletic.

Ari Alexander of KPRC2 reports that the Houston Astros have brought back reliever Hector Neris. The hard-throwing reliever was DFA’d by the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week.

According to Passan at ESPN, first baseman Dominic Smith is signing a major league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Smith, who had been the Boston Red Sox’s primary first baseman since May, was released after Triston Casas‘ return from injury. He started for Cincinnati in their contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday and went 0-for-3.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Seattle Mariners have parted ways with manager Scott Servais and appointed Dan Wilson as his replacement.

As reported by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a contract extension for general manager Perry Minasian.

The Baltimore Orioles announced several roster moves today. Infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Miami Marlins, has joined the active roster along with right-hander Matt Bowman and lefty Nick Vespi. To make room, they optioned deadline addition Trevor Rogers, Colin Selb, and Liván Soto to Triple-A Norfolk and designated Bruce Zimmermann for assignment.

Robert Murray of FanSided tweets that the Los Angeles Dodgers have designated outfielder Jason Heyward for assignment.

Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas Rangers’ top prospects Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are both set for promotions. Rocker is moving up to Triple-A Round Rock following his impressive performance at Double-A Frisco, while Leiter is anticipated to make his next start with the big league club.

Latest On MMO

In celebration of Jesse Winker‘s walk-off home run against the Orioles, MMO is giving away an autographed card of his. Like and repost this tweet to enter!

David Melendi highlights Lindor’s accomplishments as a Met and his willingness to win a title in New York.

On This Date In Mets History

2019: Jacob deGrom struck out 13 batters and hit a home run in a start against the Atlanta Braves, making him the first pitcher in the modern era to achieve this feat twice in a single season. Remarkably, before deGrom, no pitcher had ever done this multiple times throughout their entire career.

Birthdays: Billy McKinney (30), Pat Strange (44), Prentice Redman (45), Raul Casanova (52), Ed Hearn (64), Julio Franco (66)

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