Washed Out. Again.

First of all, Happy Thursday. I don’t know about you but the week went by pretty quickly. Anyway, consider a paid subscription? That way you can get The Mets Newsletter every single day in your ol’ inbox.

Well, for the second week in a row, a Mets game was postponed due to rain. This time it happened in Baltimore, Maryland. They’ll play a doubleheader today - one at 12:05 pm and one at 5:05 pm. 

It’s kind of amazing as to how much has changed since the last time the Mets were washed out. If you recall, that was last Tuesday. It was two days after they were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a historically pathetic fashion. The Mets lost the first game of last Wednesday’s doubleheader, then proceeded to win four in a row, and five of six. That includes Tuesday night’s pleasantly surprising come from behind victory. 

So this time around, I would imagine that the rain out was not nearly as welcomed as it might have been last time - the Mets are on a roll now. (On the bright side, because the All-Star Break is right around the corner, the pitching rotation doesn’t get messed up.)

 ***

Luisangel Acuña was a late scratch for Triple-A Syracuse. Nobody knows why. 

The Marlins claimed pitcher Tyler Zuber off waivers from the Mets.

Speaking of the Marlins and pitching - it’s been reported that the Mets have interest in right-handed reliever Edward Cabrera, who is having a breakout season.

Carlos Mendoza said Kodai Senga (hamstring) "should be good to go" to start on Friday, and that Sean Manaea (oblique, elbow) is "trending" towards pitching on Sunday. 

It sounds like Mark Vientos is going to be the odd man out when the Mets face right-handed pitchers, with Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty playing 2B/3B and Jesse Winker DHing in the meantime. On Tuesday night, Mendoza pinch hit Winker for Vientos when a lefty reliever entered the game, only to replace Vientos with Travis Jankowski for Jankowski to sacrifice bunt in the 10th. And in the lineup posted for the eventually postponed game last night, Swaggy V’s name was missing. 

When Brandon Nimmo plays Game 1 of today’s doubleheader, it will be his 1000th game as a New York Met. He will become just the 11th player in franchise history to play as many. He’s got a long way to go to catch Ed Kranepool for the most of all-time: he played 1,853 games as a Met.

As a follow-up to referring to Nimmo-Francisco Lindor-Juan Soto-Pete Alonso as the “Fab Four” in a tweet, Andy Martino asked Steve Cohen who his favorite Beatle was. He said “McCartney.” 

The Mets only have two of the first 132 picks in this year’s MLB Draft, which starts a week from today. Why? Because they spend “too much” money and specifically had the gall to sign Juan Soto. Fortunately, according to Mets brass, it’s a “very deep” draft.

The Athletic talked to the rehabbing Brooks Raley (Tommy John), who should be good to go after the All-Star break.

On TikTok, the Mets were asked who the best pitcher on the team is. Francisco Lindor got the most votes of course. David Peterson surprisingly got two.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (42-47) waited until the bottom of the ninth to score some runs, but it was enough to walk off the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies affiliate) 2-1. A Drew Gilbert single plated the winning run. Nolan McLean was tremendous: in six shutout innings he allowed just three hits, walking three and striking out ten. You’d think he’d force his way on the big league roster. You’d think.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (55-26) shut out the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 3-0. Carson Benge went 2 for 3 with his second home run in Double-A, a double, two runs scored, two RBI, and a walk. Jordan Geber and four other pitchers combined to shut down the Curve.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (55-28) absolutely obliterated the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 13-0. Chris Suero hit his 13th dinger of the year. Brendan Girton threw four and one third shutout frames, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out four. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (44-37) blew out the Bradenton Marauders (Pirates) 10-2. St. Lucie collected 22 hits (none of which were home runs.) Nick Roselli went 4 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Channing Austin went four and two thirds innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits. He walked three and punched out one. 

On this day in 1999, the Mets played one of the greatest regular season games in their history. They beat the Yankees 9-8 on Matt Franco’s two-out pinch-hit single off of Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Mets and Orioles will play a double dip this afternoon. In Game 1, the Mets will throw David Peterson (6-4, 3.18 ERA) out there. Baltimore will counter with Charlie Morton (5-7, 5.47 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY and MLB Network out of market. 

For Game 2, the Mets are listing their starter as TBD, but it will most certainly be Justin Hagenman (0-0, 4.35 ERA). Tomoyuki Sugano will toe the rubber for the O’s. First pitch is slated for 5:05 pm eastern. That game will also air on SNY.