Meet the Mets
Well, that was an interesting game last night. After losing the series opener on Thursday, the Mets turned to top pitching prospect Jonah Tong to start last night in his major league debut. His teammates welcomed him to the big leagues by scoring twelve runs in the first two innings with homers from Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso. On the mound, Tong more than held his own, giving up just one earned run in five innings of work (albeit with three extra unearned runs scoring due to some poor
defense in the fifth). But thankfully, the Mets kept on scoring—including putting up six runs in the eighth against position player Javier Sanoja. The Marlins put some extra runs on the board against a position player themselves in the ninth when Carlos Mendoza tried to turn to Luis Torrens to finish the game on the mound. He ultimately needed to turn to Ryne Stanek for the last couple outs, leading to a 19-9 final score. So certainly not a normal one. But hey, Jonah Tong is here and he is 1-0 in his major league career.
Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, NY Post, MLB.com, Daily News, Newsday, North Jersey, ESPN
It was just one start, but the newest Mets rookie certainly looked like he belonged last night.
Jonah Tong’s journey from unheralded Canadian prep player to young phenom hoping to give the Mets a boost in their playoff push is an unlikely one, to say the least.
Nobody expected Tong to make it to the majors this quickly, including Tong himself.
Despite having two injured hands, Francisco Alvarez is determined to keep playing this season.
Around the National League East
Despite racking up twelve hits, the Braves managed just one run and ultimately fell to the Phillies.
Nick Castellanos has been getting less playing time for Philadelphia recently and he is still adjusting to that.
A solid start from Mitchell Parker was not enough for the Nationals, who lost to the Rays 4-1.
Third baseman Connor Norby made his return for the Marlins last night after missing time with a wrist injury.
Around Major League Baseball
The Reds lost to the Cardinals 7-5 in extras and fell to five games back in the National League wild card race.
There’s still a month to go, but the National League playoff race seems like it is taking shape.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal implored MVP voters to not forsake Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge solely due to voter fatigue.
Xander Bogaerts has been placed on the injured list with a left foot fracture and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season, though the Padres still hope to get him back for the postseason.
In order to clear a roster spot for top pitching prospect Payton Tolle’s major league debut, the Red Sox released Walker Buehler.
Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez has been in the midst of a breakout season, but he will now need to undergo Tommy John surgery.
The Royals’ search for a location for a new ballpark tells us a lot about what teams look for when building new stadiums in modern times.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
Joe Sokolowski provided the latest installment of This Week in Mets Quotes.
Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane discussed the past week of Mets baseball on a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series.
Lukas Vlahos outlined what to expect from Tong in anticipation of his debut.
This Date in Mets History
Edgardo Alfonzo had the single greatest offensive day in Mets history on this date in 1999.
