The Mets beat the Braves again this evening at Citi Field.

For the third time in as many nights, the Mets defeated the Braves at Citi Field. Dillon Gee was excellent in his return from the disabled list, the Mets scored four times against Ervin Santana, and the Vic Black and Jenrry Mejia threw a scoreless inning apiece to close out the victory. A Lucas Duda single plated the Mets' first run in the first inning, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and later that inning Travis d'Arnaud hit a no-doubt two-run bomb to left field to put the Mets up 4-1.

That makes four straight wins for the Mets, who entered this four-game series with the Braves ten games back in the division but are playing well at the right time.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by amazins8669; his effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

The Mets have won four games in a row and three straight against the Braves.

Three games into their four-game series with the Atlanta Braves, the Mets are showing signs of life. WHile the deficit they faced on Monday—ten games back of the then-division-leading Braves—things weren’t exactly looking good for the Mets in 2014.

Now, though, they have won three straight games against the Braves and four straight overall. Go back a couple more games, and they’ve won five of their last six. That doesn’t exactly make the Mets favorites going forward, but the team is still hanging around, at least. Another win against Atlanta tomorrow, and their weekend series against the Marlins could make for a good pre-break finale.

As for the game itself, mostly everything went well for the Mets. In his return from the disabled list, Dillon Gee looked like he had since the end of May last season. He allowed just one run, which came in the sixth, as he threw seven-plus innings. He struck out four, walked one, and now has a 2.56 ERA on the season.

At the plate, the Mets got off to a good start in the bottom of the first on a one-out double by Daniel Murphy and a two-out single by Lucas Duda that scored him. But they didn’t score, and didn’t really threaten to score, against Ervin Santana through the sixth inning. But in the seventh, they turned a 1-1 tie into a three-run lead.

David Wright led off the inning with a double, and he advanced to third on a hard-hit fly out by Lucas Duda to right field. Bobby Abreu walked—and showed up the third base umpire afterwards for a terrible call on a check swing the pitch before the walk. Terry Collins pinch ran for Abreu with Juan Lagares, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a hard line drive to right field that Jason Heyward caught. Wright scored easily on the play to put the Mets up 2-1, but Heyward’s play saved the Braves at least another run—temporarily, anyways.

Travis d’Arnaud has hit very well since coming back from Triple-A Las Vegas, and he stepped in and hit one of the most sure-thing home runs of the Mets’ season. It was his third home run since coming back, and he has a .900 OPS over that span.

Gee went back out to start the seventh inning but gave up a single to Tommy La Stella and a very surprising bunt single to Gerald Laird. That prompted Terry Collins to turn to Vic Black out of the bullpen, but Black retired each of the three batters he faced to escape the jam. Jenrry Mejia then pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing a couple of singles but striking out two in the process.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Talking Chop GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Vic Black, +14.4% WPA, Travis d’Arnaud, +13.1% WPA, David Wright, +11.6% WPA, Dillon Gee, +11.4% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run home run int he seventh, +15.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play:B.J. Upton’s game-tying double in the sixth, -15.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +28.3% WPA
Total batter WPA: +21.7% WPA
GWRBI!: Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Phil Naessens shares his first introduction to the Athletics, wonders what will happen if heaven forbid there's an injury to a middle infielder, and leaves you with an interesting question.

I still remember the first time I saw the Oakland A's play. It was 1972 and they were playing the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs. Okay, maybe I saw them play before but this time they were facing off against my Detroit Tigers. I still remember asking myself "what's a Blue Moon Odom" and he showed me and the rest of the world by winning Games 1 and 5 and sending my Tigers packing.

As much as a seven-year-old possibly could I hated that 1972 team but I also became fascinated by them as I watched this band of long-haired mustache-wearing Dudes from "out west" beat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games to win Oakland's first World Series.

1973 wasn't much better for me either. In fact it was worse. The A's predictably reached the World Series but this time they were facing my New York Mets. This Mets team, with the midseason motto of "You Gotta Believe," went from worst to first and taught little boys like me that anything was possible. Of course those effing A's had to ruin it all by winning their second World Series that year, and my hatred and fascination with this amazing A's team grew.

Those A's teams of the 70's were great. I wanted to see more of this team but living in the East and spending summers with my grandpa in the Midwest made watching this great team play ball extremely difficult. Luckily for me there was an All-Star Game and in 1975 the A's had eight players representing the American League. It was a real treat to watch these excellent baseball players do their thing on national TV.

Flash forward to 2014 and your Oakland A's have seven representatives as well (six plus Jeff Samardzija). It's nice to see that the best team in baseball has so many players chosen. I'm sure for you fans it's a very rewarding feeling and for me it's another chance to watch great classy players doing their thing on national TV. Congratulations to all seven of your Oakland A's!

What was your first reaction to the trade with the Cubs? Talk about going all-in, right? Billy Beane wheeled and dealed his way to a starting rotation that boasts five starters in the top 32 in all of baseball. That's a heck of a deal isn't it?

What happens if, heaven forbid, Jed Lowrie gets injured?

Morbid I know but for me that's a real question. I would have thought the A's might have been concentrating on a middle infielder but they didn't. I suppose if something does happen then Nick Punto can fill in on the short term but a middle infield of Eric Sogard and Nick Punto isn't exactly going to set the field on fire. Something tells me Billy Beane has a couple more tricks up his sleeve and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think he will do in the comments section below.

In segment two of my show today Alex joins me for his weekly segment to talk about the All-Stars and the trade and as usual had a great time doing so. I'm also joined on the show today by Indy Cornrows Tom Lewis and Grizzly Bear Blues Joe Mullinax. Lewis and I talk possible Indiana Pacers trades and Mullinax and I speculate on the future of Grizzlies point guard Nick Calathes. It's a fun show and as usual I'll leave the player below or you can download the show from my site here.

Your Thursday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

The Amazins rolled to their third straight victory over the Braves on Wednesday night, winning by a score of 4-1 on the strength of a commanding return outing from Dillon Gee and a two-run bomb off the bat of Travis d'Arnaud.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB.com, ESPN New York, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star­-Ledger, New York Post, Newsday

The Mets will go for the sweep tonight when Bartolo Colon faces off against Aaron Harang.

Travis d'Arnaud's heat map since his return from Las Vegas suggests he's a very different hitter. Laura Albanese and John Harper investigate why that may be.

Here's a closer look at Terry Collins's successful Wednesday night first inning challenge.

Jeurys Familia was unavailable after having some struggles with his warm-up on Wednesday, and Collins says he will be careful with him going forward in light of his 43 appearances this season.

Ken Davidoff praises the Mets' decision to stick with Lucas Duda and jettison Ike Davis.

Keith Hernandezrecollects his Seinfeld cameo for Rolling Stone.

MetsMinors examinesNoah Syndergaard, Brandon Nimmo, and Kevin Plawecki at the mid-season point.

Eddie Kranepool Society admits that it still hates Jimmy Qualls.

On this date in Mets' history in 1999, Matt Franco struck a killer blow off of Mariano Rivera.

Yesterday At AA

Steve Sypa gave a complete rundown of Tuesday's Mets' farm action.

Daniel Stein-Sayles wondered where the Mets can look to improve their lineup.

Jeffrey Paternostro took a closer look at Brandon Nimmo in the newest edition of the Behind the Backstop series.

Steve Schrieber argued that if Troy Tulowitski requests a trade this offseason, the Mets cannot afford to pass up the opportunity to pursue him.

Chris McShane posed a few questions about Cubs' shortstop Starlin Castro to Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue.

Aaron Yorke covered the news that Mets' left-hander Hamilton Bennett asked for and was granted his release from the organization.

Around the NL East

Demetrius Bell of Talking Chop wonders if the Braves are targeting Cubs' relievers.

The Fish lost to the Snakes 4-3 in ten innings. Michael Jong explores the Marlin's fifth starter options.

The Phillies downed the Brewers 4-1, and John Stolnis posits the possibility of a Dominic Brown rebound.

The Nationals defeated the Orioles on Wednesday by a score of 6-2. Patrick Reddington takes readers inside the relationship of Matt Williams and Buck Showalter.

Around the Majors

The big news yesterday was that Masahiro Tanaka had an MRI on his right arm.

Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon would be willing to waive his no-trade clause if he would be dealt to a contender.

Joe Posnanski looks back at Lou Boudreau and his decision to shift the defense against Ted Williams.

A streaking Reds team can ill afford to be without the services of Billy Hamilton and Brandon Phillips, but that scenario now looks like a distinct possibility.

Jon Heyman reports that the Rockies have every intention of keeping Troy Tulowitski, despite his recent intimations that he may be open to a trade.

MLB Trade Rumors digs into the trade market for shortstops.

The San Francisco Giantsare considering a ban on culturally insensitive fan attire at AT&T Park.

A fan tells the Rockies' CEO and chairman that he doesn't come to the ballpark because the product on the field is consistently bad. The CEO's response? Don't come.

If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.

Brad Penny was promoted to Triple-A New Orleans after a successful outing with the Marlins' Single-A affiliate on Tuesday night. Penny will make a pair of starts before the Marlins make a decision on whether to promote him.

The Miami Marlins don't have to make a decision on their starting rotation until after the All-Star break with Thursday's off day leading into a series with the New York Mets, but if the organization feels a prospect is not ready, they can turn to Brad Penny.

Penny was promoted to Triple-A New Orleans after making a start on Tuesday night, and will reportedly be evaluated after making a pair of starts for the Zephyrs. He will make his next start on Sunday.

Following a successful outing Tuesday for Single A Jupiter, the Marlins are sending Brad Penny to Triple A New Orleans for his next start on Sunday.

Penny, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2012, went six innings in what was his second start for Jupiter. He allowed two runs on three hits, striking out two and issuing no walks.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2014/07/marcell-ozuna-homer-was-a-marlins-first-brad-penny-update.html#storylink=cpy

Penny has a July 31 opt out clause in his contract that would give him the chance to sign with another organization if he wasn't on Miami's roster at that point, however the Marlins will likely have a decision made after he makes those two starts.

In just over ten innings with Single-A, Penny posted a 5.06 ERA to complement a 2.88 FIP.

Heading into the All-Star break, the Marlins are utilizing a four man rotation, with Nathan Eovaldi, Henderson Alvarez, Tom Koehler, and Brad Hand serving as the only starters on the roster.

Miami won't need another starting pitcher until July 23, and Penny is an available option.

Andrew Heaney, Brian Flynn, Adam Conley, Anthony DeSclafani, or Justin Nicolinocould see time in the Marlins rotation in the second half. Penny was signed to add depth, but would add a necessary veteran presence to a young staff.

Hand had difficulty in his intial return to the rotation, but after going six and a third innings against the Diamondbacks, will likely get another look.

While the Marlins are trying to develop their young arms, turning to Penny may not be the most logical in terms of long term plans. But if the Marlins are looking to win now, giving Penny a shot in a spot that the Marlins have struggled to fill with a quality arm can't hurt.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.

The Braves now have 50 wins this season.

In what lived up to the billing of an ace vs. ace showdown between Aaron Harang and Bartolo Colon, the Braves got the better of the Mets in a 3-1 win on Thursday night to halt their four-game losing skid.

All three of the Braves' runs came early. Freddie Freeman doubled home Andrelton Simmons in the first inning, and Jason Heyward plated Freeman with a bloop single to left to make the score 2-0. In the third inning, Justin Upton drove home Simmons on a 6-4-3 double play.

The Mets' lone run came in the third as David Wright lined a ball past Simmons and into left field, scoring Eric Young Jr. Harang, as he has seemingly done all season long, found a way to wiggle out of trouble as he got Lucas Duda to fly out to left and Travis d'Arnaud to ground out to end the inning.

Not a whole lot happened over the middle innings. Things got tense in the bottom of the eighth as the Mets put two runners on with just one out, but Jordan Walden got Juan Lagares to pop out in foul territory, and then Craig Kimbrel struck out Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

Kimbrel went 1-2-3 in the ninth to improve the Braves to 50-42 on the season. The Nats lost, so we're basically back in a virtual tie atop the East.

The Braves will kick off their final series of the first half tomorrow afternoon in Chicago. First pitch is 4:05 p.m. ET.

The Mets failed to execute a four-game sweep of the Braves as Bartolo Colon struggled through another rough first inning and the hitters found themselves powerless in the face of Aaron Harang.

Bartolo Colon's first inning troubles persisted as he allowed two runs in the initial frame on a Freddie Freeman RBI double and a Jason Heyward bloop single, and the Braves tacked on in the top of the third on a run-scoring double play groundout. The Mets got back one of those runs on a David Wright RBI single in the bottom half, but could manage no more against the baffling Aaron Harang, who stifled them for seven innings. A brief hint of a rally in the bottom of the eighth was extinguished when Craig Kimbrel converted a four-out save, denying the Mets the four-game sweep of Atlanta.

Full recap to come.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; your effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

SNY enhanced its broadcast but the Mets couldn't enhance their offense, as the Amazins were stifled by Aaron Harang and failed to execute a four-game sweep of Atlanta.

Tonight's game was shown in what SNY referred to as an "enhanced broadcast," which meant limited commercial interruptions thanks to the generous purview of Citi. A nice idea, except the enhancements consisted largely of ersatz ads for Citi. The extras that weren't strictly commercial ("This just in: Powersauce is amazing!") tended to go on for way too long, at the expense of broadcasting the game itself.

A telephone call with former Met great Jon Matlack was interesting at least, though it was still distracting from the on-field proceedings. The same could not be said for overlong conversations with Terry Collins and Bobby Abreu, both of whom can presumably speak on camera at any time and don't have to do so over the first two batters of any given inning. The Abreu interview was particularly brutal in length, prompting my daughter to ask, "Why is this guy still talking?"

It reminded me of WPIX's Yankee broadcasts of the 1980s, when Phil Rizzuto would literally spend half a game talking to some random celebrity in the booth about everything but the game (a cringe-y occasion Jackie Mason stopped by the booth springs to mind), while Bill White struggled to convey some idea of what was going on. This is not a good broadcasting model to follow. So in theory, an "enhanced broadcast" is an intriguing idea in theory, but in practice it just seems to translate to "lots of missed at bats."

Oh, the game? Yes, we'll get to that in a moment after we hear from Citi's assistant VP for Something Or Other and Not Kevin Burkhardt interviews Eric Campbell for 27 minutes.

Bartolo Colon had pitched poorly in his previous two outings (10 runs and 15 hits, including three homers). But even before then, the first inning hadn't been in his friend. In his 17 starts before tonight, he'd allowed 16 runs in the initial frame. His struggles continued tonight, beginning with a one-out single by Andrelton Simmons that snuck under the glove of Daniel Murphy. Freddie Freeman (of course) followed by knocking a double into the right field corner to easily score a speedy Simmons. One out later, Jason Heyward dunked a single into shallow left to drive in Freeman.

Colon did manage to strike out two Uptons and a La Stella in the inning, however, and benefited from some Braves brain cramps in the top of the second. Christian Bethancourt and Ramiro Pena singled to start the inning, which looked like the opening to an Atlanta rally until Aaron Harang struck out trying to bunt the runners over while Bethancourt was caught drifting off second base on his K. A B.J. Upton fly out ended the inning with no further trouble.

The portly pitcher got another break of sorts after allowing back-to-back singles again in the third by Simmons and Freeman, while Juan Lagares bobbled Freeman's hit to put runners on the corners. Colon induced a lazy grounder up the middle by Justin Upton that allowed Simmons to score but also went for a double play, putting the kibosh on a potentially big inning.

For his part, Harang continued his curious effectiveness against his former teammates as he kept the Mets off the bases until Juan Lagares hit a two-out double in the bottom of the second. Unfortunately, because Terry Collins chose to bat Colon eighth in the lineup for some reason, Harang was able to walk Ruben Tejada with no consequences, knowing the very next "batter" was no threat. At least Colon did not swing his helmet hilariously off his head while striking out to end the inning.

Some signs of life emerged in the bottom of the third, starting with a single by Eric Young, who then stole second. After a Curtis Granderson K and a Murphy walk, David Wright fought out of a two-strike hole to single to right, driving in Young. Unfortunately, Lucas Duda flew out and Travis d'Arnaud ground out to third to bring the inning to an end. Wirght's RBI would turn out to be the extent of the damage the Mets would inflict on the evening.

Unaware of this eventuality, Colon did his best to keep the game close. The Braves threatened when Tommy La Stella hit a single to start the top of the fourth and Pena hit a one-out single (already the ninth Braves hit of the game) to place runners at first and third. But Harang's attempt to bunt went as well as his first, as he struck out, and B.J. Upton did the same to strand two.

Having thwarted this effort, Colon did himself a favor by setting down the Braves in order for the first time in the fifth, and managed the same feat in the sixth. In the seventh, a two-out B.J. Upton single was rendered harmless. In the eighth, the Braves went down 1-2-3 with some help from instant replay, as Jason Heyward was first called safe, then out, on a play at first where Colon barely beat him to the bag. It's not easy to lose a footrace to Bartolo Colon, but give Heyward credit for trying.

Though Colon had settled into a groove, his teammates remained a rut, as they were retired without incident in the fourth. An attempted two-out rally in the fifth—Murphy single, walks to Wright and Duda to load the bases—was foiled when d'Arnaud flew out to center. They then exited quietly again in the sixth, save for a surprisingly long fly ball from Colon, and did so again in the seventh.

Considering their utter futility against Harang, the Mets were probably thrilled to see Jordan Walden take the mound in the bottom of the eighth. Wright worked a leadoff walk against the reliever, and d'Arnaud belted a one-out single to bring the tying run to the plate. But after Lagares fouled out to first, the Braves decided to leave nothing to chance and brought in Craig Kimbrel for a rare (for him) four-out save. Kirk Nieuwenhuis (pinch-hitting for Tejada) worked the count full but was ultimately no match for the Braves closer and struck out.

Hopes that Kirk's lengthy at bat might tire out Kimbrel did not bear fruit. After Carlos Torres pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, the Mets went down in order yet again against KImbrel. Thus were hopes of a four-game sweep of Atlanta extinguished.

Now please stay tuned for an exciting two-hour one-on-one with a glass panel from the Citicorp building.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Talking Chop GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: David Wright, 19.6%; Daniel Murphy, 1.6%
Big losers: Juan Lagares, -11.9%; Travis d'Arnaud, -9.4%
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright RBI single, 10.2%
Teh sux0rest play: Freddie Freeman RBI double, top first, -12.9%
Total pitcher WPA: -6.8%
Total batter WPA: -43.2%
GWRBI!: Jason Heyward RBI single, top first

Catch up on all of yesterday’s minor league action from around the Mets farm system!

*All results from games played on Thursday, July 10^th, 2014

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (55-40)_______________________________________

LAS VEGAS 9, RENO 4 (Box)

• PH Danny Muno: 1-1, R
  
• SS Matt Reynolds: 1-4, 2 R, K
  
• 3B Wilmer Flores: 1-4, R, 2 RBI
• LF Brandon Allen: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, K
• RF Andrew Brown: 0-4
• 1B Josh Satin: 1-4, K
• C Kevin Plawecki: dnp
  
• OF Cory Vaughn: dnp
  
• PH Cesar Puello: 0-1
  
• RHP Tyler Pill: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• RHP Gonzalez Germen: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (55-37)_____________________________________

PORTLAND 3, BINGHAMTON 13 (Box)

Binghamton beat the Sea Dogs Thursday afternoon to complete the four game sweep of the first place team from Portland. Steven Matz led the way with five strong innings, the first four of which were perfect, before being pulled in the sixth after running into some trouble. After struggling some in his first start at Double-A, Matz has reeled off three straight impressive outings. Travis Taijeron led the way offensive with a double, home run, and four runs batted in. He has quietly raised his 2014 line to around .250/.360/.500, which is very good.

• LF Brandon Nimmo: 1-4, R, BB, K
• 2B Dilson Herrera: 1-4, R, RBI;
• RF Kyle Johnson: 1-3, 2 R, BB
• 1B Brian Burgamy: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, K
• 3B Dustin Lawley: 0-4, R, RBI, 2 K
• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-5, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI, K
• DH Travis Taijeron: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 2 K
• C Xorge Carrillo: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K
• LHP Steven Matz: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 5
• LHP Jack Leathersich: 1.2, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Leathersich's continued presence in Binghamton is a bit of a mystery to me. The walks are high, but not outrageously so, and he hasn't issued multiple walks in an outing since May 3rd. Regardless, it's more than made up for by the ridiculous 16 strikeouts per nine he's posting. I think it's probably time to move him up the ladder.

Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (12-6 / 52-35)_____________________________________

ST. LUCIE 1, BRADENTON 4 (Box)

Six errors doomed St. Lucie and sentenced them to a three game sweep at the hands of Bradenton. The bats struggled as well, with Gavin Cecchini having a noticeably bad game. He went 0-4 with a strikeout and an error, lowering his slash since promotion to .188/.240/.261.

• 2B Phil Evans: 0-4, E (14)
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2-4, RBI
• LF Jared King: 1-4
• 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-4, E (16)
  
• SS Gavin Cecchini: 0-4, K, E (6)
• 3B Jeff McNeil: 0-3
• RF Eudy Pina: 1-4, 2 K, 2 E (9)
  
• LHP John Lannan: 4.1 IP, 4 H, R, ER, BB, 0 K; No strikeouts against 20 High-A batters is probably not good.
  

Low-A -Savannah Sand Gnats(16-6 / 60-28)__________________________________

AUGUSTA 1, SAVANNAH 4 (Box) Rain shortened

• CF Patrick Biondi: 0-4, K
  
• CF Champ Stuart: 0-2, R, 2 BB, K; According to Toby Hyde, Champ scored from second on a sac fly.
  
• SS Yeixon Ruiz: 1-3, R
  
• 1B Dom Smith: 0-2, RBI
• DH Matt Oberste: 1-2, R
  
• 3B Cole Frenzel: 3-3, R
  
• RF Victor Cruzado: 0-3, K
• C Colton Plaia: 1-3, 2 RBI
  
• RHP Ricky Knapp: 7 IP, 4 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 4 K
  

Short-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (15-12)__________________________________

BROOKLYN 1, STATE COLLEGE 4 (Box)

• SS Amed Rosario: 0-3, BB, 2 K
  
• 3B Jhoan Urena: 0-4, K
• LF Michael Katz: 0-3, 2 K
  
• RF Michael Bernal: 0-3, 2 K
• C Tyler Moore: 1-3, R, 3B, K; Very odd to have a catcher who moonlights as a second baseman.
  
• DH Tomas Nido:1-3, RBI
  
• CF Joe Tuschak: 0-4, K
• RHP Casey Meisner: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; That's 24 strikeouts, 10 walks, and a 5.30 ERA in 23.1 innings thus far.
  

Rookie -Kingsport Mets(9-12)__________________________________

KINGSPORT 2, ELIZABETHTON 4 (Box)

I must say, I'm a bit skeptical about the MiLB data we're getting from Kingsport. I could have swore this game was 6-4 entering the ninth, and then when it was completed the score dropped to 4-2. This made me question how we actually receive the data from these obscure, low minors games. Presumably, there is someone under the employ of MiLB feeding the data to MiLB.com. I can only imagine how that person copes with a full season of rookie ball.

• SS Luis Guillorme: 1-4, 2 K; He's hitting and getting on base, which is encouraging.
  
• LF Oswald Caraballo: 1-3, R, BB, 2 K
• 3B Eudor Garcia: dnp
  
• C Luis Ortega: 1-4
• 3B Pedro Perez: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, K
• CF Ivan Wilson: 0-3, 2 K
• OF Wuilmer Becerra: dnp
• LF Vicente Lupo: 1-3, 2B, 2 K
• LHP Yoan Gonzalez: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, K
  

Rookie -GCL Mets(9-8)__________________________________

GAME ONE

GCL NATIONALS 7, GCL METS 5 (Box) 12 innings

• CF John Mora: 1-4, 3B, RBI, BB, 2 K
• RF Enmanuel Zabala: 1-4, R, 2 BB, K
• PR-1B Dale Burdick: 0-1
• 1B Dash Winningham: 2-4, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, BB
• 2B Alfredo Reyes: 1-6, R, 3 K
• DH Darryl Knight: 0-4, BB, K
• PH-3B Alvin Maracaro: 0-3
• SS Milton Ramos: 2-5, 2B, 3B, RBI; Nice to see some pop from Ramos.
• LF Arnaldo Berrios: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, K
• LHP Jose Medina: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• RHP Tyler Badamo: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K; I'm glad Badamo pitched today because it gives me an opportunity to link this article his agent wrote at Baseball Prospectus. I wasn't sure where it was going but it eventually turned into a description of life in the GCL, which does not sound pleasant. These guys are dropped into St. Lucie, paid peanuts, and are just grinding things out day after day. It sounds grueling and lonely. One positive takeaway is that it sounds like Badamo could be a legit arm, supposedly ratcheting it up to 94 or 95 at times. He's definitely someone to keep an eye on.

GAME TWO

GCL NATIONALS 6, GCL METS 4 (Box)

• RF John Mora: 1-4, R, 2B
• DH Darryl Knight: 2-3, R, 2 RBI

Star of the Night

Travis Taijeron

Goat of the Night

Gavin Cecchini. Honorable mention to Wally Backman for his continued refusal to play Puello everyday.

Your Friday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

Bartolo Colon recovered from a poor start, but New York's offense never got going against Atlanta starter Aaron Harang, and the Braves defeated the Mets 3-1.

Recap Parade: Amazin' Avenue short, long, MLB.com, ESPN NY, New York Times, Post, Daily News, Newsday, Star-Ledger

Colon continues to look like a solid trade chip with his ability to work deep into games, but keeping him could be the Mets' best shot to make the playoffs, writes the Post's George Willis.

Over at ESPN (subscription required), former big league general manager Jim Bowden lists three teams that could be interested in trading for Colon, along with the prospects that the Mets could reap in such a deal.

Earlier on Thursday, the Mets finally forged a deal with first-round draft pick Michael Conforto. Hooray!

Rising Apple's Miss Met had a lovely time at the Women's Baseball Clinic that the Mets held at Citi Field recently.

SNY aired its "Battle of the Broadcasters" game show last night, and team GKR defeated the WOR radio crew to earn ultimate trivia bragging rights.

Around the NL East

One minute it looked like the Phillies were going to get no-hit by Matt Garza. The next, they were crushing Milwaukee and getting out of town with a series sweep.

Now the Phils are going to see how Grady Sizemore works out for them.

Not even Kate Upton could get Justin Upton into the All-Star Game. As Keith says, maybe the Atlanta outfielder should try hustling more often.

Michael Jong addresses the areas the Marlins could improve in if they are buyers at the trade deadline.

The Nationals fell to the Orioles at Camden Yards, but they remain one loss ahead of the Braves in the division standings.

Around the Majors

Clayton Kershaw's scoreless innings streak was halted at 41 last night when Chase Headley hit a home run off of him in the sixth inning of Los Angeles's game against San Diego. The Dodgers won 2-1.

Aroldis Chapman got a little too aggressive with his fastball yesterday, and Anthony Rizzo's displeasure caused a bench-clearing incident between the Reds and the Cubs.

Those poor Yankees have seen nothing go their way this season. Now star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his elbow. He'll try to rehab the injury... just like Matt Harvey did.

More bad news for the Bombers: Carlos Beltran has been placed on the seven-day concussion DL after his bizarre batting practice injury forced him out of Wednesday's game in Cleveland.

Better news for the Yanks: The Indians gave Derek Jeter an awesome LEGO gift!

The Cardinals have seen their playoffs hopes grow brighter as the Brewers continue to swoon, but now St. Louis has to deal with the loss of Yadier Molina to a torn thumb ligament.

Chris Sale and Anthony Rizzo were voted into the All-Star Game by fans. The Home Run Derby lineup will be rounded out by Justin Morneau and Josh Donaldson.

Marc Normandin is thinking that trade season would be more fun if the market had more sellers. Of course, if everyone is buying, that should raise the incentive for selling.

Are the small-market A's taking over the Bay Area? Wendy Thurm writes about a new era of baseball over at Sports on Earth.

Yesterday at AA

Dan Lewis uses satire to explain why the Mets would be wise to part with some prospects in exchange for a veteran star.

Matt Harvey turned out to be a cheese snob.

On this date in 1986, Gary Carter smacked two home runs, Sid Fernandez pitched a shutout, and the Mets slammed the Braves 11-0.

Okay, okay, so you've heard enough about LeBron James, and don't need to hear more about him on a baseball site. But this is sort of neat. What if LeBron was a baseball player? He would be Mike Trout times two.

So you’ve managed to escape the looping sports networks and local sports pages to find safety at Beyond the Box Score. *Refeshing sigh.* The one place where you don’t have to worry about hearing more on LeBron James and where he will end up playing next season. Well, almost. Even the baseball nerds have a take on this one.

Welp, I guess this is outdated.

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Thinking about LeBron James and the monumental impact he has wherever he decides to take his talents to play, it made me wonder what the equivalent would look like in baseball. Obviously, basketball and baseball are very different sports. The object – score more than your opponent – is the same, but pretty much everything else is different. Baseball is mostly an individual sport, with a collection of those individual events making a team. Basketball is extremely team-oriented. And perhaps the biggest difference is that a basketball player can impact almost every play, whereas in baseball, each player contributes a small percentage of plays through their at-bats and defensive plays.

Understanding there are differences, we are not so much concerned with the game of baseball versus basketball as much as we are interested in how a star player impacts a team’s chances of winning. In other words, how valuable is LeBron James to a team versus, say, a Mike Trout?

Like baseball, there is a way to calculate win shares for basketball players, although far less peer reviewed. Basketball-Reference created a win share system based on the Bill James model for baseball. Win shares are broken up in offensive and defensive values. Follow this link to read the detailed calculations.

Homecoming

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In the end, by adding offensive and defensive win shares together, you can find the total win share value for any particular player. If you add all of the win shares of each player on a particular team, the total should closely resemble the team win total for that given season.

Which brings us back to LeBron James. We can use win shares to get an idea of how much of an impact he has on his team’s winning percentage. Remember, unlike baseball, the basketball season is only 82 games. So we need to adjust win shares to team wins.

By looking at LeBron’s final four seasons in Cleveland and his previous four seasons in Miami, we can compare his impact across the same number of seasons on each team. It is clear to see that his win share total in each season accounts for roughly 30% of his team’s wins. He had a greater impact in Cleveland, which makes sense considering the talent differences between there and Miami.

So, if LeBron is accounting for roughly 30% of his team's wins based on win shares, what would be the equivalent in baseball?

The most obvious way to measure win contribution in baseball is WAR. Although, we can’t compare LeBron’s win share total to WAR directly because they measure two different things. Remember, WAR is wins above replacement, so it assumes a baseline of about 43 wins for a team of replacement level players. Therefore, in calculating the impact of a baseball player on his team's success, we will subtract 43 wins from the team’s win total each season.

If we are going to compare LeBron James to a baseball player, why not Mike Trout. Below is Trout's fWAR totals and percentage relative to team wins, accounting for the 43 replacement level wins each season.

We can see that Trout undoubtedly has a major impact on the Angels. Since he has performed at an extremely high level in each of the past three seasons (pro-rating this season), regardless of the Angels overall record, Trout adds roughly ten wins above replacement, or between 18- 30% of the above-replacement wins up for grabs (i.e. 10/(89-43) = 21.7%).

Note: There was some thought to changing the win shares used to calculate LeBron's impact on his team in terms of "wins above average" so that it more closely resembled the idea behind WAR. Since we are comparing LeBron's impact as a basketball player to Trout's impact as a baseball player, we are less interested in how much above average LeBron is to his peers. We are instead interested in how many wins each contributes to their respective teams, understanding that in basketball, each player has a larger impact due to the fact that they participate in a greater share of the plays.

The key is the "up for grabs" number. For Trout, his individual performance can be great, and the team can still lose. He only comes to the plate about four times per game and may only see three or four balls defensively. There are eight other players who get an equal share at the plate and in the field. And we haven't even talked about the most important influence on winning in baseball, and that is pitching. In basketball, a player like LeBron James can single-handedly win a game for his team. He can take 25 - 30% of his team's shots in a given game, set-up a great percentage of the other shots, and contribute defensively every play, thus his performance has a greater impact on wins and losses.

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So when we look at the win share percentage of LeBron, we have to keep in mind that while his win share total may stay about the same regardless of the team he is on, his team win total is likely to always be very high. Mike Trout's fWAR can remain around ten - which is astronomical in baseball terms - but his team win total is more likely to fluctuate based on the talent around him.

To be fair in comparing LeBron to Mike Trout, we would have to do so using the same winning percentage of their respective teams. If LeBron James played on a good basketball team that won 60% of its games, or 49 wins per season, using his win share total since 2006-07 (133 WS), that would equate into 33.9% of the team's wins. Doing the same for Mike Trout, using a 60% team winning percentage, or 97 wins per season, his WAR, taking into account replacement level wins, would equate into 18.6% of the team's wins. LeBron almost doubles Trout!

What this comparison shows us is that all of the craziness surrounding LeBron James is justified. On a 97-win baseball team, a player would need a fWAR close to 18 to account for the same win share percentage to win total as LeBron has averaged since 2006-07. For those of us who think in baseball terms, it would be like Mike Trout doubling himself, declaring for free agency, and having both him and his clone sign on the same team.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, and Basketball-Reference.

Jeffrey Bellone is an editor and featured writer at Beyond The Box Score. He can also be found writing for the saber-slanted site Inside the 'Zona, and about the Mets at Amazin' Avenue and Mets Merized Online. He writes about New York sports at Over the Whitestone. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter @JeffreyBellone.

From deGrom's potential new normal to Nimmo's ability to stick in center, the ESPN prospect expert weighed in on a handful of questions on the minds of Mets fans on Thursday.

Mets fans came out in droves on Thursday to pick the brain of ESPN's Keith Law. Below you will find Law's responses to the plethora of questions he received in yesterday's chat, along with some added context to round it all out.

Jacob deGrom was called up on May 15, and since that time he has struck out 64 batters in 66⅔ innings while turning in a 3.38 FIP and a 104 ERA+. Before this season, some who had seen him pitch doubted his ability to be a viable major league stater. What he has done is gone out and proven his doubters wrong, never more so than this past Tuesday night when he threw seven innings of seven-hit shutout baseball while striking out 11 batters.

Danny (Brooklyn, NY): Most didn't view Jacob deGrom as a high-upside starter, but it seems like he may have done what Matt Harvey did (NOT comparing him to Harvey) in that he saved his best for when he reached the majors. He's been 95-96 with the fastball consistently.

Keith Law: Fairly late/recent convert to the mound too, so I wouldn't be shocked if this was the real him - a new gear that no one saw coming. Always liked him but can't say I thought he'd be close to this.

Binghamton's Brandon Nimmo was Baseball Prospectus's ninth-rated prospect in the Mets' system coming into this season. While they praised his athleticism, they also questioned his ability to stick in center, believing that he profiles better in a corner. Law agrees.

Lenny (Philadelphia): Are you coming around to the possibility of Nimmo staying in center long term?

KL: You'd have to give me a reason why I would, and don't forget to mention that he's already torn an ACL in one knee.

Baseball America surprised some people by slotting the 51s' catcher, Kevin Plawecki, as the fortieth-best prospect in all of baseball. Baseball Prospectus didn't include him in their Top 101 list over the offseason, nor did Law include him in his pre-season list. Has he changed his mind?

Nick (Long Island, NY): I know you don't pay much attention to other 'lists', but BA had Kevin Plawecki ranked at the #40 prospect in baseball. I would think even Mets fans think this is higher than expected. Do you see him as a top 100 prospect at this point?

KL: He's not on my top 50 - and I do like him, would probably have him on my top 100.

Travis d'Arnaud struggled mightily out of the gate this season and was summarily sent down to Las Vegas, but since returning on June 24, he has slashed .300/.340/.560 with four doubles, three home runs, and ten RBI. Terry Collins said on Thursday that if d'Arnaud continues to hit like he has since his return, in a few weeks' time he could be batting in the three slot.

John (Cali): Is Travis d'Arnaud finally starting to live up to his hype?

KL: Hope so. Don't think he's a high-avg hitter but I believe in the power and he should be a good receiver ... but I also worry about any catcher who's had concussion problems staying at the position.

With the deadline approaching, trade speculation is heating up. Some Mets fans are hoping to see the organization make a move to add more power to the lineup. But which players are expendable and which are untouchable?

Finnegan (NJ): If the Mets do surrender a flamethrower for a power bat, how would you rank [from gone to don't trade] the list of Montero, Harvey, Syndergaard, Wheeler, deGrom?

KL: Don't trade Harvey. Most willing to trade Montero. Could make good arguments for any order of the other three but I might trade Thor before Zack.

A lot of Pirates fans are still stinging from the loss of Dilson Herrera in the Marlon Byrd/John Buck exchange from last season. And for good reason. Herrera has slashed .309/.364/.420 with 28 extra base hits and 17 stolen bases at two levels in 2014 while committing three errors in 103 chances at shortstop and ten in 269 chances at second. The question is, can he hang at the major league level, and if he does, where would he fit in an infield?

Keith (NY): What is your opinion of Dilson Herera? Will he be a starter and which MIF position will he settle in to?

KL: Starter at 2b. And a good one.

Savannah's Dominic Smith was ranked as the Mets' sixth-best prospect by Baseball Prospectus this past offseason, but he started out the season in a pretty serious funk, slashing .212/.261/.247 for the month of April. But starting in May, Smith began to heat up, and he's been solid ever since. However, some fans are still worried.

Pete (Annapolis): Hey Klaw, are you impressed with Dominic Smith's year? He got off to a rough start, but has played great IMO since May 1. No HR's but it's tough in Savannah right?

KL: Savannah murders LH power. He'll be fine.

Finally, another trade question regarding the potential value of Daniel Murphy.

James (NYC): With a few teams in the playoff hunt needing a 2B, what are the chances the Mets could get a top 100 (or top 150) caliber prospect for Daniel Murphy? How much does the fact that Murph is not a Qualifying Offer candidate affect his value (I am assuming a team wouldn't give him $16 million after 2015)?

KL: If someone believes he can play an average 2b, then yes.

There you have it. It's good to know that Mets fans are out in force, passionate about the team and trying to become as knowledgable as possible. Law was enthusiastic about nearly every Mets' player who was mentioned.

Let's just hope he's right.

In our latest look back at 1999, the Mets get All Star snubs galore, then take their revenge out on the road

After the thrilling Shea segment of the Subway Series, all the Mets save Mike Piazza were able to rest over the All Star break, as the catcher was the lone Met selected for the Midsummer Classic at Fenway Park. That came as something of a shock, since most of the Mets' infield had compiled All Star-worthy stats. And yet, the trio of John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Robin Ventura finished no higher than fifth at their respective positions.

The only Met to come close to making the trip to Boston was Rey Ordoñez. His offensive surge in June and early July, along with an aggressive VOTE FOR REY! campaign mounted by his team, led to some late ballot stuffing on his behalf. Ultimately, Ordoñez finished second behind the NL's All Star Shortstop for Life, Barry Larkin. There was some hope that a Met or two would be selected for the National League reserves, but National League manager Bruce Bochy failed to select a single one, not even for his bullpen.

It was probably just as well, as these snubs prevented any Mets from being embarrassed by Pedro Martinez. The Red Sox starter, in the midst of a historically great season, started the All Star Game and struck out five of the six batters he faced. Pedro fanned Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire before Matt Williams reached on an error in the second inning. The pitcher shrugged his shoulders and struck out Jeff Bagwell while Pudge Rodriguez nailed Williams trying to steal.

It was one of the most impressive All Star pitching performances since Carl Hubbell struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row in 1934, and it set the tone for the rest of the game. When the senior circuit fell to the American League, 4-1, Steve Phillips theorized, "I think the National League would have scored more runs if it had more Mets."

Any anger the Mets felt over the All Star snubs was taken out on the opposition in the successful eight-game road trip that started the second half of their season, beginning with an interleague matchup in Tampa Bay on July 15. Unlike their expansion mates in Arizona, the Devil Rays continued to struggle in a manner befitting a brand new franchise. The visitors took full advantage and won two of three games at Tropicana Field, though like the stadium, the results weren't always pretty.

In the opener, the Mets fell behind 3-0 early, but rebounded thanks to a plethora of walks and errors by the Devil Rays. New York took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to watch Armando Benitez allow three runs, the last one scoring when Roger Cedeño lost a Bubba Trammel fly ball in the lights and cat walks. Cedeño redeemed himself by knocking in the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth, and Benitez did the same by setting down the Devil Rays in order in the bottom half to seal a gruesome 8-7 victory. The next evening, the Mets pummeled Tampa Bay pitching and held off a late charge to slink away with a 9-7 win.

The last game in Tampa should've felt like a home game for the Mets, as it coincided with a Turn Back the Clock event that featured former Amazins such as Tom Seaver, Tug McGraw, and Ron Swoboda, presumably to draw Florida's sizable ex-New Yorker population to the ballpark. But the visitors also had to wear 1969-style flannel uniforms and never looked comfortable within them. ("There's a reason they're not made like this anymore," Bobby Valentine noted.) The home team—dressed in the togs of the Tampa Bay Tarpons, a former Reds affiliate—eked out a 3-2 win.

The Mets' next opponents, the Baltimore Orioles, were one of many teams that spent for the penthouse in the offseason and found themselves in the outhouse. Their expensive signing of Albert Belle had proven particularly unwise, to the surprise of no one. When the Mets came to Camden Yards on July 18, Baltimore was mired firmly in last place, beneath even the lowly Devil Rays.

In the opener, O's fans had to endure the sight of Armando Benitez—a reliever Baltimore consigned to the scrap heap—stifle a potential Baltimore rally. The Mets piled on to take an 8-1 lead, but Masato Yoshii and the bullpen ceded five runs in the late innings to turn a laugher into a squeaker. Benitez took the mound in the ninth to hearty boos and promptly dispatched his former team to cap the 8-6 win. In the following game, after rookie Octavio Dotel limited the Orioles to three hits over seven innings, Benitez again jogged out of the bullpen to Bronx cheers when asked to protect a slim lead. And again, he set down Baltimore in order in the Mets' 4-1 victory.

The Orioles salvaged a win in the finale behind the pitching of husky freshman Sidney Ponson. The Mets bid Camden adieu and finished out their road trip with two games in Montreal on July 21 and 22, winning them both handily by the scores of 7-3 and 7-4, respectively. It was a nice trip north for the 40-and-over set, as Rickey Henderson passed Willie Mays to occupy fifth place on the all-time runs scored list and Orel Hershiser earned his 200th career win.

While the Mets went 6-2 out of the gate after the All Star break, the Braves experienced a rare hiccup, going 3-5 over the same stretch. That meant New York would return to Shea only two games out of first place. Once they began their next homestand, however, they wouldn't just have to battle the visitors, but their own front office as well.

Time and time again we read how the Yankees need to "build a new core" and time and time again, Yankee fans forget one thing that really made those years magical. What happened to Tanaka might hopefully serve as a reminder. (It won't)

There's no way to properly quantify the immense blow to the Yankees yesterday when Masahiro Tanaka's injury was announced. Words like "defeated" and "deflated" certainly come to mind. Words that I'm reading are more in tune with "fire sale" and "sell." I'm sure those words are going to be repeated ad nauseum as we approach the trade deadline, as are discussions about how the Yankees need to build a new core. You know, just like that. Tank, get prospects, and then the Yankees are riding shotgun into Dynasty City, where the currency are rings and the tears of other fans.

It doesn't work like that. I don't think I can stress this point enough. It really, really does not work like that. If it did, every team would do it and not go through twenty plus years of being awful. Ask the Cubs and their fans how over a century of ineptitude has worked out for them. The Yankees, despite the good times of the late 90's, do not have this magical button which just allows them to win. I will spell it out for you as plainly and bluntly as possible. Ahem.

They. Got. Lucky.

Now keep in mind, this does not take away from the amazing accomplishments of those years. They were an incredibly talented team, filled with fantastic players ranging from great veterans to future Hall of Fame prospects. Even with all of that, they got lucky. No team wins four championships in five years, or comes a few outs away from winning five championships in six years, based entirely on skill and talent alone. It's luck, and to repeat what they did during that time is extremely improbable.

One key thing that people don't remember about those years is that the Yankees did not get injured. It's a really important thing to remember. You can talk about a player's skill, their passion, their offense, their defense, their incredible slider, or even their clutchicity. Few people mention or remember their health. When Robinson Cano was so casually dismissed by fans and certain a YES broadcaster for not hustling enough, what they often forget is that he was out there almost every day for nine years. You know who that reminds me of? Derek Jeter and the majority of the Dynasty Era team.

Those teams, and the majority of Yankee teams after 1996, did not suffer the kinds of injuries we have seen the past two years. No fluke balls to the hand. No pulled hamstrings running down the line. Nothing. The Dynasty Era teams didn't lose 3/4th of their lineup or 4/5th of their rotation to the injury bug. We're through the looking glass people. It's coming up on the All Star Break, and in half a season we've gone from David Phelps in a long relief role to David Phelps being our number two starter in the rotation. That should tell you everything you need to know about how important health is to any team, and why the Yankees of the Dynasty Era and beyond were so fortunate.

If you want another example, I recently asked some members of Amazin' Avenue exactly what happened with the Mets teams from 2007-2008, during which time the Mets were on the verge of what looked like a possible, incredible playoff run of their own. What I was told is that it was a combination of injuries and bullpen problems. Just the tiniest injury can completely derail a team's season. Losing Masahiro Tanaka is pretty much the worst thing that could have happened this year.

So here we are, three games away from the All Star Break trying to make sense of the future of this team, not just for this year but for next year as well. I do not envy Brian Cashman his task this trade season. As sad and hilariously as it may be, the Yankees are still in contention due to the AL East being a dry, overcooked, inedible meatloaf of a division this year. Who knows what happens the rest of the year, but fans should keep in mind the wise words of John Lennon:

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Cashman could do everything right and the Yankees could miss the playoffs. Cashman could do everything wrong the Yankees could make the playoffs and win the World Series. A fire sale could get back talent and then said talent could get injured. Somehow, Brian Roberts is still standing. Plan as you might, there's only so far planning can go. Sometimes, there's nothing you can do. Sometimes, your young ace with a magnificent slider gets a partially torn ligament.

This is neither hope, nor is it giving up. This is just a fact. A lot of what can make or break a season has little to do with the players you acquire and more to do whether or not said players stay healthy. This is true of every team in the major league right now. The Yankees of the Dynasty Era did what they did because not only were they talented, but that incredible talent did not get injured. Whether you use this knowledge as comfort or as a rally cry to coax Gene Monahan out of retirement is up to you.

Just try and remember this the next time you think tanking, drafting high, and rebuilding is the ultimate answer to the Yankees current problems. It is not, nor will it ever be. The majority of the time, the answer is health.

Three games with the Marlins are all that's left between the Mets and the All-Star break.

What's going on with the Marlins?

Even with ace pitcher Jose Fernandez out for the season with Tommy John surgery, the spunky Marlins find themselves on the edge of the playoff race in the National League East. At 44-47, Miami is six games out of the division lead, and it would be in even better position had the Mets not taken three of four games the last time the two clubs met. That was from June 19 to June 22, and since then the Fish have struggled along at 7-9 despite playing nine of 16 games against the Phillies and Diamondbacks.

That last Mets vs. Marlins series featured the big league debut of Andrew Heaney and another start by young right-hander Anthony DeSclafani. Star prospect Heaney looked as good as good as advertised against the Amazins, but in his next three starts he allowed 14 runs in 14.2 innings and was quickly sent back down to Triple-A New Orleans for more seasoning.

DeSclafani, a native of Freehold, New Jersey, also performed well in his major league debut. That came on May 14 against the Dodgers, but the Mets scored seven runs on him in fewer than four innings in late June, which contributed to DeSclafani's own demotion to the minor leagues. The left-handed Brad Hand hasn't been terrible has a fill-in starter, but Miami is still looking for a consistent presence to eat some innings at the back of the rotation.

Who are these guys?

While the Marlins search for way to plug the pitching staff's holes, the offense continues to be surprisingly potent. Giancarlo Stanton is an All-Star starter after hitting like an MVP candidate during the first half of the season, and Casey McGehee was eligible to earn a trip to Minnesota via the Final Vote despite hitting just one home run all season. It's very likely that by the time you read this, McGehee will have been beaten out by Anthony Rizzo or longtime Twin Justin Morneau, but the Miami third baseman will always have the last laugh with such an amazing Twitter handle.

Another Marlin who is hitting the ball with authority this season is Marcell Ozuna. It turns out the second-year player can do some things at the plate when he's not throwing out Mets baserunners from the outfield. The 23-year-old could stand to get his strikeout rate under control, but as Fish Stripes explains, boosts in Ozuna's walk rate and power have turned him into a solid all-around player in 2014. He's currently riding a 15-game hit streak, and Ozuna just won a game for the Fish on Tuesday when he hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth in a 2-1 victory.

Who's on the mound?

Friday: Henderson Alvarez vs. Zack Wheeler

Really, Alvarez again? The 24-year-old right-hander has been really good overall in this, his breakout season, but he's been even better against the Mets. In three starts against New York, Alvarez has allowed two runs in 21.1 innings while posting 16 strikeouts and two walks. Really the only bad thing you can say about the guy is that he doesn't strike out too many batters, but his walk and ground ball rates are more than dominant enough to make up for it. Alvarez hasn't allowed more than two runs in an outing since May 16.

If Wheeler can pitch like he did the last time he faced Miami, the Mets might just find a way to beat Alvarez. Back on June 19, Wheeler shutout the Fish with just three hits and one walk allowed in what was the most dominant start of the youngster's career. Since then, Wheeler was chased from the game early against Oakland, but recovered to allow only two total runs in his most recent two starts. However, a combined seven walks and eight strikeouts in that pair of games indicates that his command isn't totally where it should be.

Saturday: Tom Koehler vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka

Like Alvarez, Koehler is preparing for his fourth start of the season against the Mets. Although the Amazins were able to hit up the Bronx native for four runs in five innings back in April, his most latest two starts have frustrated the Queens faithful. After shutting out the Mets for eight innings on May 7, Koehler matched a season high with eight strikeouts in his June 21 outing while allowing just two runs in seven innings. The 28-year-old has been hot and cold this year, but the Marlins are probably happy to stick with him considering the issues they've had with the rotation.

Of course, the Marlins aren't the only team that is sticking with an inconsistent hurler because of injuries to the pitching staff. Lots of teams are doing that, including the Mets! Matsuzaka was coming off of two dreadful starts when he took the hill against the Braves on Monday. Who would have known he was going to dominate for seven innings and lead the Mets to victory? The veteran right-hander is still full of surprises, and the Amazins will hope for more pleasant ones as they wait out Jon Niese's hopefully minor injury.

Sunday: Brad Hand vs. Jacob deGrom

Considering the Mets' history against the first two Miami starters of the weekend, Hand is New York's best shot at victory this weekend. Sure, he has pitched three scoreless innings against the team this season, but those were all as a reliever. As a starter, Hand had a couple of poor starts against Washington in April before being forced back into the rotation due to Koehler's recent paternity leave and Heaney's demotion. During two July starts, Hand gave up three runs in five innings against Philadelphia and shutout the D-backs for 6.1 frames. Those aren't bad figures for him, but Hand's 19 walks in 35.1 innings this season tell a different story. On the other hand (not intended), the lefty's control issues may have been caused by an ankle injury that he went on the DL for in late May.

Holy smokes, deGrom was amazing on Tuesday night. The 11 strikeouts he hurled with zero walks in seven innings show that the former shortstop still has a high ceiling. Scouting expert Keith Law is normally stingy with praise, but even he was impressed with what deGrom has been able to do lately. It's still unclear what the right-hander's future role with the Mets will be, but he's trending as high as ever right now, and it will be exciting to see if the good times can continue to roll into the All-Star break.

What about some video highlights?

Yes, Ozuna really did make that throw to nail Kirk Nieuwenhuis at the plate. The worst is when Gary says, "and that'll get the run in," right before he makes the catch.

The man can also get it done at the dish, as evidenced by this game-winning blast against the Diamondbacks.

Watch as this routine foul pop-up turns into instant comedy when a fan in the front row completely loses his mind.

Do you have a spare LeBron James jersey and like minor league baseball?

If you happen to live in Florida and enjoy Mets minor league games, the High-A St. Lucie Mets have a pretty good offer: Trade in your LeBron James Miami Heat jersey or shirt jersey—you may have heard that the superstar has left Miami to return to Cleveland—and you'll receive a season ticket to each of the team's remaining home games.

As the St. Lucie Mets point out on their website, the team has 25 remaining home games this year. Their current roster features a few notable Mets minor league players, the best-known of which is 20-year-old Gavin Cecchini, the Mets' first-round draft pick in 2012.

Even if you didn't already have either of the qualifying LeBron James items, it probably wouldn't be hard to acquire one on the cheap just to trade in for the promotion. While minor league baseball tickets are cheap, it's hard to imagine finding a better deal on admission to a ballpark than this one.

In the dark corridors beneath Citi Field, Jedi Master Met engaged Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel.

It's @starwars Night at #CitiField! Fight the Dark Side you must! @Metspic.twitter.com/n3KlKfNgQd

— Mr. Met (@MrMet) July 11, 2014

The new hope of the Rebel Alliance... @MrMet! @starwars Night at #CitiFieldpic.twitter.com/7ahEMBEQrp

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 11, 2014

Jedi mister met ! @starwars#501st#wdw#sww#mets#citifield#disneypic.twitter.com/qGx8qjURng

— David Heller (@David_Heller25) July 11, 2014

The Mets blew out the Marlins at Citi Field this evening.

The Mets beat the Marlins with ease to open a three-game series before the All-Star break. Zack Wheeler was very good, allowing just one run in six-and-two-thirds innings, and the Mets’ lineup had no trouble scoring against Henderson Alvarez—a pitcher who entered the game with a 2.27 ERA on the season.

A Ruben Tejada single plated a run in the second, and Zack Wheeler doubled to score him later in the inning, too. Lucas Duda hit a bomb of a two-run home run in the third, and David Wright hit a home run of his own into the second deck in left field in the sixth. And just for a little extra insurance, Juan Lagares drove in Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who had tripled, with a single in the seventh. All in all, it was a great game.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by amazins8669; his effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

Henderson Alvarez and the Miami Marlins were slammed by the New York Mets 7-1 in a game full of two-run home runs and ugly play.

The Miami Marlins came into this game hoping to pull a little closer to .500 and trying to close the widening gap between them and the division lead. They brought their best starter, Henderson Alvarez. to face off against the impressive Zack Wheeler.

The results were not pretty.

Alvarez took a rare beating, as he gave up six runs in five innings with three strikeouts and no walks allowed. Most importantly, he gave up two critical home runs. The one to Lucas Duda was blasted to deep right field and had no doubt the second it left the bat. Duda launched a two-run shot with the New York Mets already up 2-0, and the homer went up into the upper deck in the spacious Citi Field. Later in the game, Alvarez gave up another bomb, this time a two-run homer to David Wright, that left Miami drowning in a 6-1 deficit.

The Fish could have been behind less, but Miami tossed away early chances at runs. With the game still 4-0, Donovan Solano singled and Casey McGehee doubled down the left field line. With one out, third base coach Brett Butler sent Solano home, which is an unorthodox move when your team is down four runs and baserunners are almost as good as runs scored. Solano was gunned down by Ruben Tejada. One batter later, Garrett Jones bunted against the shift to try and bring McGehee home, but in a close play at first base, he was ruled out. There appeared to be questionable evidence of an incorrect call, but Miami deemed it not important enough to challenge.

It is not as though those plays were what cost Miami the game. The Fish fell behind by a significant amount, and none of its hitter could do much against Wheeler, who struck out six in 6 2/3 innings and picked up another win over the Marlins.

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 25,914
Hero of the Game: No one
Goat of the Game: Henderson Alvarez (-0.319 WPA)
Play of the Game: Lucas Duda homered to right field. David Wright scored. (-0.120 WPA)

Zack Wheeler pitched well, and the Mets had little problem beating the Marlins at Citi Field on Friday night.

Thanks to the a combination of good pitching, good defense, and good hitting—the holy trinity of baseball—the Mets beat the Marlins at Citi Field on Friday night. Coming off a series in which they took three of four from the division-rival Atlanta Braves and, before that, winning two of three games from the Texas Rangers, the Mets continued their recent stretch of success.

It all began with 24-year-old Zack Wheeler, who set the Marlins down in order in the first and second innings of the game. And although the Mets didn’t score in the first, either, they got on the board with a couple of runs in the bottom of the second.

With two outs and nobody on base, Juan Lagares doubled. Shortstop Ruben Tejada, who could have been pitched around or intentionally walked with Wheeler on deck, singled to score Lagares. And Wheeler then followed up with a hard-hit double to score Tejada. The Mets almost scored twice more as Curtis Granderson hit a long fly ball, but rather than going over the fence, it came up a bit short, and the inning was over. Still, the Mets had a two-run lead on a night that Zack Wheeler looked good on the mound.

Wheeler went back out and threw a scoreless third, though his early perfect game came to an end with a one-out double. The Mets, however, scored twice more in the bottom of the inning as Lucas Duda hit a two-run home run after a one-out single by David Wright.

In the fourth, Wheeler flirted with trouble, but that’s when the Mets’ defense showed up. Donovan Solano led off with a single, and after Wheeler retired Giancarlo Stanton on a fly ball, Casey McGehee doubled down the left field line. As the ball made its way into Citi Field’s left field corner, Kirk Nieuwenhuis did a good job of picking it up and throwing it to the cutoff man, Ruben Tejada, who then made a strong, accurate throw to Travis d’Arnaud at home plate to retire Solano as he attempted to score.

McGehee had advanced to third on the throw to home plate, and he very nearly scored when Garret Jones put down a bunt. But Wheeler made a great play fielding the bunt and throwing Jones out at first—on a play that was close enough to want a replay discussion—to end the inning.

Miami broke through with one run in the top of the fifth against Wheeler, but in the bottom of that inning, David Wright hit a two-run home run into the second deck in left field. The Mets were up 6-1, and after Wheeler’s scoreless sixth inning, the Mets tacked on one more run on a Kirk Nieuwenhuis triple and a Juan Lagares single. That was the team’s last run of the evening, but it was more than enough.

For some reason, Wheeler started the seventh inning, having already thrown 106 pitches on the night. He got a couple of outs relatively quickly, at least, before Terry Collins turned to Josh Edgin. He set down the first man he faced to end the seventh and retired the only other batter he faced to begin the eighth. Vic Black finished the eighth, and Jeurys Familia—who very recently was unavailable because of a tired arm—threw the ninth to finish off the game.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Fish Stripes GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Zack Wheeler, +16.8% WPA (pitching), Zack Wheeler, +11.2% WPA (hitting), Ruben Tejda, +11.1% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda’s two-run home run in the third, +12.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play:Christian Yelich’s run-scoring single in the fifth, -5.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +17.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: +32.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Zack Wheeler