Morning Briefing: Mets Grow Wild Card Lead to Two Games

Good morning, Mets fans!

The Mets beat the Padres 6-1 at Citi Field, with Brandon Nimmo’s 24th homer in the third inning giving New York a 5-1 lead. Jonah Tong rebounded with five strong innings, and the bullpen kept the Padres scoreless the rest of the way. Pete Alonso also homered for the fourth straight game. Read the full recap here

After the Mets’ victory against San Diego, the San Francisco Giants lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs 1-0, thanks to a complete game shutout by starting pitcher Hunter Greene. Currently, following the Mets’ win, they have a two-game lead over both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Reds, and a three-game lead over the Giants for the final Wild Card spot.

Latest Mets News

The Mets announced that Reed Garrett was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow sprain (retroactive to September 15). Wander Suero was selected to the major league roster. Sean Manaea was placed on the paternity list. Huascar Brazobán was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Chris Devenski was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Dom Hamel was designated for assignment.

At just 22 years and 91 days old, Tong became the youngest pitcher in Mets history to record a start with zero earned runs, zero walks and eight strikeouts, as posted by MetsMerized Online.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said it isn’t guaranteed that Kodai Senga will have a postseason roster spot, noting, “I wouldn’t say definitely. We’ll have the conversations and we’ll take the best 13 guys that we feel are going to give us the best chance to win baseball games in October.”

The Mets reached a milestone at Citi Field on Wednesday, drawing their 3 millionth fan of the season—the first time the team has hit that mark since 2009, the ballpark’s inaugural year, as reported by the Sports Business Journal.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are headed to the Eastern League Championship Series after sweeping the Somerset Patriots in the Northeast Division Series. Binghamton clinched the sweep with a 5-4 home victory Thursday night and will face either Erie or Altoona in the best-of-three championship series. Here’s what the celebration looked like for the Rumble Ponies.

Mets prospect Jack Wenninger was stellar for Binghamton, pitching six scoreless innings with just one hit, one walk, and nine strikeouts on 92 pitches (55 strikes).

Latest MLB News

Clayton Kershaw announced that he will retire following the 2025 season, ending a Hall of Fame career, via MLB Network. Kershaw, who has spent his entire 18-year career with the Dodgers, will make his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium today. Dodgers owner Mark Walter praised Kershaw, saying: “His is truly a legendary career, one that we know will lead to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

The Milwaukee Brewers will be without closer Trevor Megill for the remainder of the season after he suffered a Grade 1 flexor strain, according to Sean Wright.

The Detroit Tigers activated Paul Sewald from the 60-day injured list and designated José Urquidy for assignment, per Tigers PR.

The Washington Nationals interviewed Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero for their top front-office position, according to The Athletic.

Major League Baseball has instituted a new Amateur Recovery Period Policy, which bans team officials from scouting or collecting data on high school and college players for several months this winter, in an effort to reduce injuries—details via ESPN.

Latest on MMO

Kai Chang covered David Peterson’s recent string of uneven starts.

On This Date In Mets History

Born On This Date: Randy Myers (1962) and Duke Snider (1926).

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