Morning Briefing: Mets Take Over Top Wild Card Spot

Good morning, Mets fans! With the Mets’ (55-48) 8-4 victory over the Braves (54-48) Friday night, New York took over the top Wild Card spot, surpassing the Braves in the standings. The Mets were as many as 10 games behind the Braves in early June but have now overtaken Atlanta, who are the losers of […]

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Good morning, Mets fans!

With the Mets’ (55-48) 8-4 victory over the Braves (54-48) Friday night, New York took over the top Wild Card spot, surpassing the Braves in the standings. The Mets were as many as 10 games behind the Braves in early June but have now overtaken Atlanta, who are the losers of six in a row.

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J.D. Martinez, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez each homered off of Charlie Morton in the third inning, putting up seven runs and knocking him out of the game. Kodai Senga looked fantastic in his season debut, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings pitched, but he left the game with a calf strain. The Baseball Prospectus Recovery Dashboard shows that players with calf strains miss an average of 34 days.

The Mets and Braves will go at it again at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Tylor Megill (2-4. 5.08 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets while Spencer Schwellenbach (3-5. 4.62 ERA) will go for the Braves.

The Mets acquired reliever Ryne Stanek from the Mariners in exchange for outfield prospect Rhylan Thomas. Stanek owns a 4.38 ERA this year but has pitched better than his numbers indicate. He joins another former Astro in Phil Maton as the newest additions to the bullpen.

The Mets also made a flurry of roster moves prior to Friday’s game. The team activated Kodai Senga from the injured list in time for his start, but they also placed Dedniel Núñez on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 24 with a right pronator strain.

Additionally, the Mets recalled Eric Orze from Triple-A and designated both Adrian Houser and Shintaro Fujinami for assignment.

Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets have called the Giants about Michael Conforto. Conforto would fit the Mets’ need of a lefthanded hitting outfielder.

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The Phillies announced that they completed a trade with the Orioles, sending Seranthony Domínguez and Cristian Pache to Baltimore for Austin Hays. Hays has three home runs and a .711 OPS in 63 games played this year, while Domínguez has a 4.75 ERA in 38 games and Cristian Pache has a .557 OPS in 50 games, though Pache is an excellent defensive outfielder.

The Orioles made another trade, sending three prospects to the Rays for Zach Eflin, who is 5-7 with a 4.09 ERA this year.

Another trade out of the AL East included Yimi García being sent to the Mariners for prospects Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp.

The Dodgers sent starting pitcher James Paxton, who was recently DFA’d, to the Red Sox for 17-year-old infielder Moises Bolivar. Paxton, who spent the 2023 season in Boston, was 8-2 with a 4.43 ERA but was the odd man out with Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow returning from injury. Robert Murray of FanSided was first on the deal.

Astros general manager Dana Brown told reporters that the team is “working our tails off” to acquire a starting pitcher. He said that he’d prefer not to trade anyone from the major league roster and that no prospect is untouchable. Brown also added that prices remain high, noting it’s a seller’s market.

Freddie Freeman was scratched from the Dodgers’ lineup on Friday and flew back to Los Angeles with the team currently in Houston. His three-year-old son has been in the hospital and there is no timeline on when Freeman is expected to return.

Latest on MMO

Michael Famulari recaps the brilliant performance from José Buttó in Thursday’s victory over the Braves.

Christian De Block profiles Marlins closer Tanner Scott as a potential trade target for the Mets.

On This Date in Mets History

2003: Gary Carter, the catcher for the 1986 World Series champion Mets, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Carter spent five seasons with the Mets and was named an All-Star four times in that span. He also won two Silver Slugger awards during his time in New York.

Birthdays: Max Scherzer (40)

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