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

Meet the Mets

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

After Friday evening's victory over the Phillies in which Bartolo Colon picked up his 200th victory, the Mets finally pulled the plug on Chris Young, designating the outfielder for assignment and recalling Matt den Dekker from Las Vegas. This came hours after the Mets decided to start Wilmer Flores at shortstop and play Kirk Nieuwenhuis more regularly in the outfield.

Curtis Granderson has been placed on revocable trade waivers, while Bartolo Colon has not yet.

David Wright's struggles continued but he will not be dropped in the batting order, says Terry Collins.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will get into a rehab game early next week, while Matt Harvey is scheduled to go back to the mound today. Unfortunately, Jeremy Hefner is headed back to New York to get his elbow examined after experiencing soreness.

Noah Syndergaard pitched on Thursday and struggled a bit but here's a scouting report on the imposing righty.

Brandon Nimmo has made the jump to Double-A and the Mets top outfield prospect spoke about his approach to hitting and the adjustments he's made.

Mets 2014 fourth rounder Eudor Garcia has a reputation as an excellent hitter but he wasn't always known for that.

Yesterday At AA

Rob Castellano has our prospect hot sheet for July.

Aaron Yorke previewed the Mets series with the Phillies.

Matthew Callan's look back at the 1999 Mets heads out west.

Matt Harvey is the straw that stirs the Mets drink, writes Michael Avallone.

Around the NL East

The Marlins beat the Reds 2-1 and they also dealtJacob Turner to the Cubs for a pair of minor leaguers. The Braves beat up on Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals, winning 7-6 to snap their 8-game losing streak. Steven Souza left the game after crashing into the Turner Field wall at full speed.

Around the Majors

Bud Selig denied a report that he's feuded with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf over who will succeed the outgoing commissioner.

Derek Jetertied Honus Wagner for 6th on the all-time hits list yesterday.

The Marlins would like to extend Giancarlo Stanton's contract but they're not optimistic that the 24-year old outfielder wants to stay with them.

Josh Beckett hit the 15-day disabled list with a hip injury and word is he may be finished for the year. Seems like something for the Mets to monitor with Bartolo Colon.

The Washington Post presents the definitive ranking of craft beers at MLB stadiums.

The Hunter Pence insult signs have followed him to Milwaukee.

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.

The right-hander continues to work towards recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Matt Harvey's rehab assignment continued in Florida today, with the right-hander taking to the slope of a mound once more to help get himself back to full health after Tommy John surgery in October.

Matt Harvey threw 29 pitches off the slope of the mound in Port St. Lucie earlier today.

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 9, 2014

Harvey had a chance to throw fifteen pitches in the Citi Field mound last Sunday, the first time that he had tossed off a mound surface since the procedure. He was able to bump it up to 20 pitches when he headed down back to Florida on Tuesday as the team gradually gives him a little more work each time he goes back out.

It is still very unlikely—if not absolutely impossible—that Harvey will pitch in a major league game this season, given the continued messages being sent from the front office. The Mets' thinking is that they don't want to risk having a very key part of their future suffer long-term damage to his arm and having his career negatively affected, especially with the possibility of having him in the rotation next year with emerging young arms like Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler (and perhaps Noah Syndergaard). Still, it looks like he is continuing to progress in preparation for getting back on the field, which looks more and more like it will happen next year, not this year.

Here is video Harvey posted to his Instagram account of his throwing session today.

The Mets may believe in themselves. But back-to-back series losses to the Giants and Nationals showed New York the road to legitimate contention is further away than they thought.

GM Sandy Alderson threw down the gauntlet way back in February, boldly stating he expected his Metsto win 90 games in 2014. The snickers, not so quietly, immediately started and Alderson was forced to explain himself, telling reporters he never intended his 90-win comment to reach the media.

"You have to understand the context within which the statement was made and the purpose behind it if the skepticism is, 'How are they going to win 90 games?' It wasn't a guarantee. It wasn't a prediction. It was a challenge, OK? A challenge to all of us internally: How do we get there?"

It was a challenge that looked even more ludicrous as the Mets bottomed out at 11 games below .500 (38-49) on July 5. An inconsistent offense, uninspired and often sloppy play, and the club's sole star player having the worst uninterrupted season of his career conspired to help sink New York to the bottom of the National League East. But a flourish to end the first half that continued through a tough, 5-5 western trip immediately following the All-Star Game helped push the Mets to a National League-best 15-10 mark in July.

Whispers about the Mets making a legitimate playoff run began, however premature and misguided. The club was playing crisp baseball, receiving stellar pitching from both starters and relievers and enough offense to get by, thanks largely to Travis d'Arnaud and Lucas Duda. So when the Wild Card-leading Giants came to town for a four-game set to kick off August, the Mets had a chance to show their recent hot stretch was more than a mirage.

They didn't.

New York proceeded to drop three of four to San Francisco and scored eight runs in the series, four of which came in the seventh inning of their lone victory. The rest of the series was a presentation in what separates the Giants and the Mets; namely clutch hitting, crisp play, plus the added benefit of strong pitching. Following a tough, 4-3 defeat in the finale, New York left town having been outscored 20-8 while batting a woeful .144 (17-for-118) in the four-game set.

Three games against the NL East-leading Nationals followed, allowing the Mets a chance at immediate redemption. Another encouraging start by Zack Wheeler (4-0, 1.59 ERA over last his seven starts) led to a 6-1 victory in the opener, but Jon Niese (0-4, 5.76 ERA in four starts since returning from the DL) was roughed up again in the second game. Bryce Harper belted a walk-off, two-run home run in the 13th inning to clinch the series.

Game, set, match.

Look, the Mets can and should believe they can recreate a miracle run like their brethren from 1969 and 1973. Baseball is full of stories of clubs coming back from the dead to roar into the playoffs. An argument can even be made that New York is a much better team than the one that entered play Friday night against the Phillies with a 54-61 record.

But whether it's an inconsistent offense that's dead last in the National League in both runs scored (58) and batting average (.208) in the second half, the increasingly frustrating in-game decisions by manager Terry Collins, or better competition, New York's hopes at a postseason are over. A hope that was more illusion than anything, according to Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal.

With the schedule more than 70% complete and the Mets hopelessly out of first place, they can now drop the illusion of reaching the playoffs and focus their attention toward contending in 2015.

Is New York's deficit insurmountable? Certainly not. The 1951 New York Giants and the 1995 Mariners showed that baseball sometimes rewards those who need a minor miracle. The 2014 Mets would love to add their name to those who have accomplished such rare feats. However, without a quick turnaround from David Wright, hitting .269 with eight home runs and 54 RBI (homerless and batting .192 in 20 second-half games), a marked improvement on their 16-22 record in one-run contests, and better decision-making from their skipper, not to mention quite a bit of luck, meaningful baseball in September won't be coming to Queens this year.

As fans of a long-gone team from Brooklyn once said, "wait 'til next year."

I don't know what the hell is going on here.

The photo above was taken in 1986 before a Mets game at Shea Stadium, and it features Kevin Mitchell in a peculiar state of undress. I don't know what's going on and I'm a little terrified.

In the comments, please give your best explanation of what's happening in this photo.

The duo will take over the lion's share of playing time at the position.

The Mets are planning on using recently-recalled left-handed hitter Matt den Dekker and right-handed hitter Eric Campbell in left field now that the team has cut ties with Chris Young. While they hit from different sides of the plate, both players have spent the majority of their professional careers in the minors. Campbell is 27, and den Dekker will turn 27 tomorrow.

While neither player has played enough in the big leagues to draw conclusions about their platoon splits, both players have long track records of hitting well against opposite-handed pitchers. There's no guarantee that either player will succeed at the major league level in the long run, but it makes sense for the Mets to try the platoon out for now and see how it goes.

Of course, assuming Terry Collins sticks to his plan, Eric Young Jr. figures to see very little starting playing time. Given his struggles at the plate this year, that, too, makes sense.

Another disappointing outing from Jon Gray headlined Friday's games.

The affiliates went 4-3 on Friday.

Triple-A: Colorado Springs 10, Omaha 9 (12 Innings)

The Sky Sox rallied from a five run deficit in the fourth inning and won on a walk off home run off the bat of Angelys Nina in the twelfth. Nina led the team with four hits, three of which went for extra bases. Also hitting home runs were Matt McBride, Tim Wheeler, and Tim Smalling.

Christian Bergman returned from injury making his first start since June 3rd and the results were disastrous. He allowed eight runs on ten hits and a walk in just 4.1 innings of work.

Double-A: Tulsa 8, Frisco 3

Jon Gray continues to underwhelm. For the fourth time in his last nine starts, Gray allowed at least three earned runs without going more than five innings. In this game, it took Gray 94 pitches to work through his five frames, and he did it while walking four, allowing three runs, and getting only one ground ball out. Hi five strikeouts and and only two hits allowed are encouraging, but results wise, Gray continues to sputter.

Offensively, the news is better. Ryan Casteel continued his hot streak and was on base three times with a single, a home run, and a walk. His OPS on the season now sits at .835, but since the start of June, which now encompasses over 200 plate appearances, it's .947. Trevor Story also had another good game as he was on base twice with a home run and a walk. After a rough start at this level, Story now has a 1.099 OPS over his last ten games. Teams are starting to walk him more as he showcases his power.

High-A: Modesto 6, Stockton 1

Here's something unusual: An outstanding pitching performance from a Nuts' starter. Jayson Aquino was nothing short of brilliant in this one as he went 8.1 innings, struck out 11, and only walked one. The lone run he allowed was on a solo home run in the seventh, one of just two hits he allowed all night.

Two bats stood out in this game. David Dahl went 3-5 with a pair of doubles, and Francisco Sosa was on base for all five of his plate appearances with three walks and two hits - One of which went for his sixth home run of the season.

Low-A: West Virginia 2, Asheville 1 (10 Innings)

It doesn't happen often, but the Tourists were shut down offensively Friday night. The two most prominent bats however still salvaged decent nights. Raimel Tapia collected his 27th double of the season, and Ryan McMahon jacked his 15th home run on the year.

On the mound Antonio Senzatela allowed just one run over his five innings of work, but he did it by scattering seven hits. Still, it's the sixth time in his last seven outings in which he's allowed one earned run less. Since the start of July, Senzatela's ERA sits at just 1.22.

I have to head out on the road again now, so I'll just leave links to the other three games here.

Northwest League: Tri-City 6, Vancouver 2

DSL League: Mets 6, Rockies 3

Rookie: Grand Junction 8, Great Falls 3

Lucas Duda drove in Curtis Granderson in the top of the eleventh, and the Mets squashed a Phillies rally to hold on and win 2-1 tonight in Philadelphia.

Despite the best efforts of both squads, tonight's contest actually finished before midnight, with the Mets taking down their longtime nemesis 2-1 in an eleven-inning nail-biter.

The Mets had their opportunities against Cole Hamels, putting runners in scoring position against him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, but only managed to plate one run on a Wilmer Flores fielder's choice in the fifth.

For Dillon Gee, tonight's start represented a much sought-after return to form against a team that has historically given him a lot of trouble. While he struggled a bit in the early innings, he settled in nicely by the middle of the game, and had retired thirteen Phillies in a row before allowing his only earned run, which came on a solo homer by Carlos Ruiz.

Neither team put anything together of note until the eleventh when, with the bases loaded against Antonio Bastardo, Lucas Duda drove in Curtis Granderson to put the Mets on top for good.

Jeurys Familia entered the game in place of the unavailable Jenrry Meija, and despite a Ryan Howard single and a walk to Marlon Byrd, managed to notch his second save of the year.

GameThread Roll Call

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

Dillon Gee and the Mets' bullpen performed admirably as the offense managed to do just enough.

Last time Dillon Gee and Cole Hamels faced each other, the Mets looked lost at the plate, unsure of themselves and their place in the world. Despite Hamels' historic struggles against the Mets, he simply dominated them that night and left Mets fans everywhere confused and distressed. If the Mets could not beat Cole Hamels, one of the few pitchers the they consistently do well against, who were they?

Tonight's contest, coming only two weeks after that abysmal showing, represented an opportunity for redemption. For vengeance. For justice.

The bad news: the Mets still failed to accomplish much offensively against Hamels. The good news: the Mets managed to emerge with a 2-1 victory against the Phillies—also known as the MLB 2K9 All-Stars—at Citizens Bank Park.

After the start of the game was delayed by almost forty-five minutes by Charlie Manuel's Wall of Fame ceremony, Hamels took to the bump and promptly set the Mets down in order. He did the same in the second, and though he hit Juan Lagares to leadoff the third, Wilmer Flores grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and Dillon Gee struck out to end the first third of the game with no Mets runs on the board.

For his own part, the only serious trouble Gee ran into early on came in the second after issuing a one-out walk to Domonic Brown, who then advanced to second on a Carlos Ruiz single. The Mets starter got out of it, though, as Cody Ashce flied out to left and Hamels struck out swinging to strand the runners. Though Gee allowed another one out single in the third, this time to Jimmy Rollins, he retired the next thirteen batters he saw without any issue.

The Mets had a chance against Hamels in the fourth. Curtis Granderson recorded the Mets first hit with a hard bunt up the third base line that elicited much anger from the hometown crowd. Grandy was eliminated on a Daniel Murphy groundball to Jimmy Rollins, but Murph managed to beat out the throw to first to prevent a double play. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch to David Wright, the latter of whom walked to put runners on first and second with one out. If you put your ear to the ground, you might have thought you heard the gentle rumblings of a big inning. You would have been mistaken. The Mets attempted a double steal, and Murph was thrown out at third, while Eric Campbell flew out to Marlon Byrd to end the inning.

To start the fifth, though, a minor miracle occurred. Lucas Duda—who came into the game hitting .077 for his career against Hamels—put a soft line drive into center for a base hit. Duda then advanced on a Carlos Ruiz passed ball, and Hamels walked Travis d’Arnaud to put men on first and second with nobody out. Domonic Brown generously allowed a Juan Lagares fly ball to drop in for a hit to load the bases for Wilmer Flores. Flores smacked a hard groundball to Asche that the Phillies third baseman threw to second to get Lagares. Duda scored on the play, however, and the Mets were up 1-0 with one out and men on first and third for the eternally-dangerous-with-a-bat Dillon Gee, who popped out to Carlos Ruiz on a failed bunt attempt. With that charade over, Granderson flew out to Brown to end the Mets threat.

Hamels ran into trouble again in the sixth. After getting Daniel Murphy to ground out to second, the Phillies starterwalked Wright for the second time in the game. Campbell advanced Wright to third on a single. Though Lucas Duda made solid contact next, the end result was a 4-6-3 double play that ended the inning. In the seventh, after getting d’Arnaud to ground out to Rollins, Hamels coughed up a one-out double to Juan Lagares, but Wilmer Flores flew out to Ben Revere and Gee struck out swinging. All in all, the Mets were 2-11 with runners in scoring position tonight.

Those missed opportunities came back to bite the Mets in the bottom half of the seventh when Gee made his only mistake of the night. With two outs, he served up a 2-0 fastball to Carlos Ruiz that the Phillies catcher mashed into left field to tie the game at one. Gee then walked Cody Asche, but he struck out pinch hitter Grady Sizemore to escape the inning without any further damage.

Both teams relied heavily on their bullpens from this point on, with the Mets using four different pitchers in relief of Gee and the Phillies using five hurlers after Hamels' exit. Though Josh Edgin almost gave up a two out, two-run homer to Ryan Howard in the eighth, Juan Lagares caught the ball on the warning track. This represented a small bit of redemption for Edgin as his last performance in a Gee vs. Hamels match-up ended in him giving up a grand slam to Chase Utley to add three earned runs to Gee's stat line.  Vic Black and Dana Eveland also pitched 1-2-3 innings in the ninth and tenth respectively to keep the Mets in the game.

Mercifully, the Amazins finally broke through in the top of the eleventh. Curtis Granderson started things off by singling to center off new Phillies pitcher Antonio Bastardo. After Daniel Murphy lined out to Brown, David Wright extended his hitting streak to eight games by lining a single into left that advanced Granderson to third. Eric Campbell came up and after a seven pitch at-bat drew a walk to load the bases, bringing Lucas Duda to the plate. Duda pulled the first pitch he saw into right to drive in Granderson and give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Bastardo got pulled after this, and left the game with the bases loaded and one out. The Mets got nothing more though, as Justin De Fratus came on to get d’Arnaud to fly out to Asche in foul territory and struck Lagares out swinging to inspire a collective groan from Mets fans everywhere.

With Jenrry Meija unavailable, Terry Collins turned to Jeurys Familia—who had only one save this season—to protect the Mets' lead against the heart of the Phillies order. Familia initially seemed like he would accomplish that easily, as Rollins flew out to Granderson and Ultley hit a soft grounder that d'Arnaud threw to first for the second out. Then Ryan Howard singled, and Marlon Byrd walked to put the go-ahead run on first.

Dan Warthen came out to talk to Familia, and whatever the old soothsayer whispered did the trick, as Familia induced a ground out to short that Wilmer Flores made a nice play on to end the game and give the Mets a hard fought win.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* The Good Phight GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Dillon Gee, 22.9; David Wright, 20.0
Big losers: Daniel Murphy, -24.0; Wilmer Flores, -16.1
Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda single, top of the eleventh
Teh sux0rest play: Carlos Ruiz homer, bottom of the seventh
Total pitcher WPA: 80.0
Total batter WPA: -30.0
GWRBI!: Lucas Duda single, top of the eleventh

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

*All results from games played on Saturday, August 9, 2014

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51s (68–54)______________________________________

ALBUQUERQUE 3, LAS VEGAS 8 (Box)

• CF Cesar Puello: 1–4, RBI, HBP
• SS Matt Reynolds: 0–4, RBI
• 3B: Josh Satin: 0–3, R, 2 BB
• RF Andrew Brown: 0–5, R
• 1B Brandon Allen: 1–4, R
• C Kevin Plawecki: 1–4, HR (3), 2 RBI, R
• 2B Daniel Muno: 0–2, 2 R, 2 BB
• LF Anthony Seratelli: 1–1, RBI, 2 R, 3 BB
• PH Allan Dykstra: 1–1, 2 RBI
• RHP Cory Mazzoni: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 8 K (W, 3–1)
• RHP Zack Thornton: .1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (H, 10)
• RHP Erik Goeddel: 2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
• LHP Jack Leathersich: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (71–48)______________________________________

BINGHAMTON 3, HARRISBURG 1 (Box)

• CF Brandon Nimmo: 2–4, R
• 2B Dilson Herrera: 1–4, HR (7), RBI, R, K
• 1B Brian Burgamy: 2–4, 2B, 2 RBI
• LF Dustin Lawley: 0–4, 3 K
• RF Darrell Ceciliani: 1–4, 2 K, E (1)
• 3B T.J. Rivera: 1–3, BB
• C Juan Centeno: 0–4
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 1–3
• RHP Rainy Lara: 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K, WP (W, 6–4)
• RHP Jon Velasquez: .1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (H, 3)
• RHP Cody Satterwhite: 1 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K (S, 13)

Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (24–21 / 64–50)______________________________________

BRADENTON 3, ST. LUCIE 4 (Box)

• 3B Jeff McNeil: 2–5, 2 R
• LF Maikis De La Cruz: 1–4, K
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2–4, 2B, R
• C Cam Maron: 2–4, RBI, 2 K
• SS Phillip Evans: 1–4, 2 RBI
• DH Gavin Cecchini: 0–4, K
• 1B Cole Frenzel: 0–4, K
• RF Eudy Pina: 1–3, R, BB
• CF Gilbert Gomez: 0–3, 2 K
• RHP Matthew Koch: 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K
• RHP Julian Hilario: 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K(H, 3)
• RHP Beck Wheeler: 2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR (BS, 4) (W, 4–1)

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (30–19 / 74–41)______________________________________

Game 1

SAVANNAH 9, AUGUSTA 2 (Box)

• SS Yeixon Ruiz: 1–3, 3B, 2 R, BB, K
• CF Champ Stuart: 1–3, 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB, 2 K
• 1B Dominic Smith: 2–4, HR (1), 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 K
• DH Matt Oberste: 1–3, 3B, R, BB, K
• 3B Neifi Zapata: 0–3, RBI, 2 R, K, HBP
• 2B Jorge Rivero: 2–4, 2B, RBI
• LF Stefan Sabol: 0–4, K
• C Jeff Glenn: 1–3, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 K
• RF Patrick Biondi: 0–3
• RHP Ricky Knapp: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (W, 6–6)

Game 2 (Makeup of 8/8 PPD)

SAVANNAH 1, AUGUSTA 3 (Box)

• SS Yeixon Ruiz: 0–3, K
• CF Champ Stuart: 0–3, 3 K
• DH Dominic Smith: 0–2, K, HBP
• 1B Matt Oberste: 1–3, R, K
• 3B Neifi Zapata: 0–3, K
• LF Stefan Sabol: 0–2, BB, 2 K
• C Colton Plaia: 1–3, K
• 2B Jonathan Johnson: 1–2, RBI, K, HBP
• RF Patrick Biondi: 0–1
• RHP Robert Gsellman: 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K, E (3)
• RHP Bret Mitchell: 1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K (BS, 2) (L, 2–1)

Short-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (29–26)______________________________________

BROOKLYN 2, BATAVIA 4 (Box)

• CF John Mora: 0–4, R, K
• SS Amed Rosario: 1–3, 2B, RBI, BB, CS (3)
• LF Michael Conforto: 0–4, 3 K
• 3B Jhoan Urena: 1–4, 2 K
• RF Michael Bernal: 1–3, R, BB, 2 K
• C Adrian Abreu: 0–4, K
• DH Jeff Diehl: 0–3, BB, K
• 1B Pedro Perez: 1–3, RBI
• 2B Tyler Moore: 1–3
• RHP Marcos Molina: 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 11 K (L, 5–2)
• RHP Brandon Welch: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Rookie Appalachian League - Kingsport Mets (24–25)______________________________________

BRISTOL 4, KINGSPORT 5 (Box)

• SS Luis Guillorme: 1–4, R, CS (3)
• DH Jean Rodriguez: 3–4, HR (2), 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• RF Oswald Caraballo: 0–3, R, BB, K
• 3B Eudor Garcia: 0–2, R, 2 BB, 2 K, E (7)
• LF Vicente Lupo: 1–3, RBI, BB, 2 K
• 1B Zach Mathieu: 1–3, 2 RBI, BB, K
• C Luis Arrizurieta: 0–3, BB, K, E (1), PB (1)
• CF-LF Jose Figuera: 0–4, 2 K
• 2B Leon Canelon: 1–4
• LHP Blake Taylor: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 3 K
• RHP Ruben Reyes: 2.1 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K (W, 1–0)
• RHP Ty Williams: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K (H, 1)
• LHP David Roseboom: 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K (S, 2)

Rookie - Gulf Coast League Mets (23–21)______________________________________

GCL CARDINALS 6, GCL METS 2 (Box)

• LF Enmanuel Zabala: 0–4
• 2B Milton Ramos: 1–4, R, K
• DH Dash Winningham: 1–3, BB
• 1B Manuel Hilario: 2–4, RBI
• CF Arnaldo Berrios: 0–4
• RF Hengelbert Rojas: 0–3, K, HBP
• C Natanael Ramos: 0–4, K
• SS Alfredo Reyes: 1–3, 2B
• 3B Dale Burdick: 1–3, HR (1), RBI, R
• RHP Darwin Ramos: 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K (L, 2–3)
• LHP Joel Huertas: 1.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K
• LHP Gabriel Feliz: .1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Derrick Bernard: 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Connor Buchmann: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Your Sunday morning dose of Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

The Mets beat the Phillies in extra innings last night thanks to great pitching from Dillon Gee and the bullpen and a big hit by Lucas Duda in the eleventh. The Mets are somehow still just six games back of the second Wild Card spot in the National League, though they will have to start passing teams in the standings to be considered in the race.

Choose your recap: Amazin' Avenue short, long, Newsday, New York Post, New York Daily News, The Record, Star-Ledger, New York Times, ESPN New York, MLB.com

With Chris Young no longer on the team, the Mets will use a platoon of Eric Campbell, who has been slumping lately, and Matt den Dekker in left field. den Dekker did not play in his first game back in the big leagues last night after catching a red eye flight, as Phillies lefty Cole Hamels was on the mound. For what it's worth, den Dekker says he has changed his swing, which might help address his high strikeout rate.

Jenrry Mejia was off last night after back-to-back outings with a sore calf, but Jeurys Familia stepped in and closed out the game. It wasn't a perfect inning, but Familia got the job done.

While the Mets have indicated they will focus on playing their young players down the stretch this year, Ken Davidoff writes that the youth movement cannot be an excuse not to sign free agents this winter.

The Mets and Yankees both like Rob Manfred in the race for Major League Baseball's next commissioner.

Bobby Parnell threw a baseball for the first time since his Tommy John surgery earlier this year.

Around the National League East

The Braves lost to the Nationals last night, which is probably the preferable outcome of any such game at this point of the season as far as the Mets are concerned.

The Marlins beat the Reds, which kept Miami one-and-a-half games ahead of the Mets but dropped put Cincinnati within three games' reach for New York.

The Phillies got into the mess they are in because general manager Ruben Amaro ignored his own rules about contracts.

Around Major League Baseball

When the Tigers acquired David Price, plenty of folks were penciling in an A's-Tigers ALCS. Well, the Tigers are going to have to earn a postseason spot first, as the Royals are once again giving them a run for their money.

Speaking of trades, the Dodgers acquired Kevin Correia, who has not been good, from the Twinsyesterday.

Over the Monster notes that Mike Trout's early and extraordinary success make things tougher for Red Sox youngster Xander Boegarts.

The Pirates are considering moving Pedro Alvarez to first base because of his defensive struggles and Josh Harrison's success at the plate.

Corey Kluber has been pretty, pretty good this year.

Yesterday at Amazin' Avenue

Matt Harvey threw again from a mound.

The Mets' contention dreams might be dead.

What is Kevin Mitchell doing in this photo?

And the Campbell-den Dekker platoon in left field seems to make sense.

The rookie has had an excellent season so far, but the news is worrisome.

The Mets announced this morning that Jacob deGrom has shoulder soreness and will be sent back to New York for an MRI. He will not make his scheduled start on Tuesday night at Citi Field. The 26-year-old pitcher has been the Mets' best since making his major league debut, pitching to a 2.87 ERA and 3.06 FIP.

Perhaps the soreness will turn out to be nothing, as was the case with Jon Niese earlier in the year, but any news of an arm injury to a pitcher is very concerning. For what it's worth, deGrom's velocity was down a bit in his start on Thursday in Washington, as he averaged 93.7 miles per hour with his fastball according to Brooks Baseball. He had done that a handful of times earlier in the year, though, so there's no guarantee the shoulder issue and velocity were related.

The Mets have not yet announced who will replace deGrom in the rotation. Assistant general manager John Ricco suggested Carlos Torres could make a spot start if deGrom will miss just one start, while either Rafael Montero or Noah Syndergaard could get a promotion if deGrom is expected to miss more time.

A potential setback from Tommy John surgery shows that not all rehabilitations always go according to plan.

All eyes were again on Port St. Lucie on Saturday afternoon as Matt Harvey threw off a mound for a third time in his continuing recovery from Tommy John surgery. But it was news on teammate—and fellow Tommy John surgery alumni—Jeremy Hefnerthat should give Harvey and the Mets pause.

The 28-year-old Hefner underwent the same surgical procedure on his right elbow last August 28, almost two months earlier than Harvey. Ahead of his fellow teammate in the rehab process, Hefner took the mound on August 6 for his sixth minor-league rehab start where he lasted just one inning and allowed three runs on three hits and two walks for High-A St. Lucie. Word soon filtered out that right-hander felt "soreness" in his right forearm, and though it’s unclear if it is related to his surgically repaired elbow, he was shut down and sent to New York for further examination. Hefner told ESPN New York that he won’t speculate further until he is seen by doctors.

"To say it's related/unrelated at this point would just be speculation. I'm resting right now and hopeful for more clarity next week."

Claimed off waivers from the Pirates back in 2011, Hefner made his major league debut for New York in 2012, starting 13 games among his 26 appearances. He was a regular member of the Mets' rotation in 2013, going 4-8 with a 4.34 ERA in 24 games (23 starts) before being shut down. He made his last start on August 9 of last year and ultimately underwent surgery three weeks later.

Hefner’s setback may prove nothing more than normal soreness from the recovery process from Tommy John surgery. Every player is unique in his ability to recover so each case should be handled separately, but with all due respect to Hefner, the Mets should take special note of his recovery and also view it as a barometer of sorts when handling Harvey.

The typical recovery period from Tommy John surgery is 12-to-18 months, but many latch on to the one-year mark as the ultimate finish line. Stan Conte, vice president of medical services for the Dodgers, recently told Newsday that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to Tommy John rehabilitation.

"I don't want the perception to be that everybody comes backs at 12 months, and if they come back at 14 months, they're behind schedule. We do this all the time. Everybody quotes the same thing. It's 12 to 18 months. But nobody pays attention to the 18 months."

This is the dilemma the Mets and any other team face with players rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. While Hefner can be callously thrown into the "just another organizational arm" category, his rehab and potential setback should serve as an important reminder to the Mets and Harvey that faster is not always better.

After tagging Kyle Kendrick early on, the Mets could add nothing more after the fifth, and the Phillies came back to defeat them.

The Mets managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory today as they lost to the Phillies 7-6 at Citizens Bank Park, wasting some early offense and some brilliant relief pitching by Josh Edgin. The Amazins lit up Kyle Kendrick, scoring one run in the first, one in the second, two in the fourth, and two in the fifth off of consecutive homers by Lucas Duda and Travis d'Arnaud.

Zack Wheeler was hot and cold today. After allowing a solo homer to Chase Utley in the first inning, he held the Phillies at one until the sixth, when Domonic Brown drove in two runs on a double to right. The Phillies added two more on a Chase Utley triple in the seventh off of Vic Black, but Josh Edgin came in to strikeout Ryan Howard and keep the Mets in front.

Jenrry Meija remedied that in the ninth by giving up a leadoff double to Cody Asche, who was driven in by pinch hitter Marlon Byrd to tie the game. Byrd stole second, and the Mets opted to intentionally walk Chase Utley after he did so to get to Ryan Howard, who singled to right to drive in the winning run for Philadelphia.

GameThread Roll Call

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

While the closer wants to play through it, he has struggled on the mound as of late.

The Mets' Jenrry Mejia has been in the midst of a struggle, which reared its head once more this afternoon when he took a blown save in a 7-6 walk-off win by the Phillies. After going eight-for-eight in save opportunities in a stretch from July 9 to August 6 in which he allowed no runs, Mejia has allowed four earned runs in his last four appearances while going 0-2 with a blown save and seeing his ERA creep up from 3.58 to 3.89.

In the middle of that has been an apparent calf injury that Mejia has consistently downplayed since being removed after an inning of work in Thursday's loss to the Nationals, a game in which he pitched a scoreless 12th before Carlos Torres gave up a two-run walk-off home run in the 13th. Today, after the team's latest loss, the right-hander revealed the exact extent of that injury.

Mejia says he has a "little bit of a hernia" but wants to keep pitching. Has had it for 3 weeks #mets

— Mike Vorkunov (@Mike_Vorkunov) August 10, 2014

This comes as the second blow to the pitching staff today; Jacob deGrom was scratched from Tuesday's start earlier today after complaining of shoulder soreness and is in New York to undergo further tests. We'll have to wait and see who his replacement will be. Now, with Mejia hurt, the team has another decision to make as to what to do with their suddenly shaky closer.

After being DFA'd last Monday, the eighteen-year veteran has been cut loose by the team.

The Mets' Bobby Abreu experiment has officially come to an end.

Abreu, who was designated for assignment last Monday, was released by the team Sunday after just over four and a half months.

Back in March, the Mets signed Bobby Abreu to a minor league contract, just four days after the Phillies cut ties after inking him to their own deal in January following a successful stint in the Venezuelan Winter League. He worked his way back up to the majors after not playing in 2013, getting the call on April 22 against the Cardinals. Four days later, he homered in a 7-6 ten-inning loss to the Marlins, his first since September 28, 2012.

But the flashes Abreu showed throughout the season, including a 4-for-4 night against the Padres on June 12 where he doubled and drove in two, were just that—flashes—as he went 1 for his last 21 and 3 for his last 28.

The 40-year-old was playing in his 18th major league season. He was a two-time All-Star (2004 and 2005) and in 2001 had his best offensive season, hitting a career-high 31 home runs and driving in 110 runs.

The Mets failed to protect a five run lead, and Ryan Howard hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Phillies a 7-6 win.

It is widely known that the Phillies are on the way down. The glory days of Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, and Roy Halladay manning their starting rotation are long gone. Jimmy Rollins is old, Chase Utley is declining, and Ryan Howard is barely hitting above the Mendoza line. Their time has passed.

I would love to say I pity Phillies fans, that I can be the bigger man and not relish in watching their slow descent into irrelevance. But I can't.

I will never forget 2007 or 2008, and so I adore it when the Mets beat Philadelphia. And that makes games like today's all the more infuriating, when the Mets blew a five-run lead and allowed their declining opponents to win.

Things started off well enough for the Mets. Curtis Granderson began the game by hitting a rocket of a ground ball that skirted through the legs of Ryan Howard. Daniel Murphy grounded out to first base, and Granderson advanced to second. David Wright then extended his hitting streak to nine games with a base hit right up the middle which drove in Granderson and put the Mets on top 1-0. After Lucas Duda flew out to left and Travis d’Arnaud walked, Kendrick got birthday boy Matt den Dekker—making his first start since returning from the minors—to ground out to Howard to end the inning.

The Phillies scored their first run off of Zack Wheeler in the home half of the first inning on a two out solo homer by Chase Ultey. Other than that though, the Phillies got nothing more against Wheeler until the sixth inning, despite the Mets righty not having his best command for the second straight start.

Meanwhile, the Mets got to Kendrick again in the second when Daniel Murphy lifted a sacrifice fly to right center that scored Juan Lagares. In the third, Lagares was involved in the Mets scoring again, this time by smacking a two run triple that drove in Wright and Travis d'Arnaud. While Kendrick got through the fourth without allowing any runs, Duda and d'Arnaud led off the fifth with back-to-back homers that put the Mets up 6-1. Kendrick got the next three Mets in order, but his start was over after five innings, and the Mets were sitting pretty with a five run lead.

In the bottom of the sixth though, Wheeler started to fall apart. After thirteen pitches, he got Jimmy Rollins to pop out to Daniel Murphy. The at-bat clearly tired him, as the Mets starter then coughed up a single to Utley, and, following a Ryan Howard fly ball out to deep left, issued a walk to Grady Sizemore. Domonic Brown then drove in the Phillies second and third runs of the day with a double to right. Though Wheeler got Wil Nieves to hit a soft comebacker to end the inning, the Georgian's hot and cold day was done, as was his streak of seven straight starts allowing two earned runs or less.

The Mets did nothing offensively against Phillies reliever Mario Hollands in the sixth or seventh, and Vic Black came on for the Amazins in the home half of the latter inning to hold the Mets lead. After setting down the first two batters he faced, Ben Revere hit a groundball up the middle that Wilmer Flores misplayed to keep the Phillies alive. The official scoring was a base hit, but Flores failed to get his feet in a good position to make the throw and pulled Lucas Duda off the bag. Though Flores has looked rough at shortstop over the course of these last couple games, this most recent failure proved especially costly, as Jimmy Rollins followed with a single to left , and Chase Utley then tripled to drive in Revere and Rollins. Black got pulled after this, and Josh Edgin came on to face Ryan Howard. The Mets reliever struck out the Phillies first baseman, stranding Utley at third to protect the Mets one run lead.

New Phillies pitcher Jake Diekman set the Mets down 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Terry sent Edgin back out for the home half of the inning. The former Buckeye performed brilliantly again, striking out the side and keeping the Mets in front. However, the Mets offense again went down in order in the top of the ninth, this time against Ken Giles.

Jenrry Meija came on for the save situation in the bottom half of the inning, and Cody Asche welcomed the Mets closer with a leadoff double that put the tying run in scoring position for pinch hitter Marlon Byrd. Byrd took the third pitch he saw and smacked it into center for an RBI single, and suddenly, the Mets were tied with no outs and a runner on first. Meija then struck out Revere and got Jimmy Rollins  to fly out to Granderson, bringing Chase Utley up with two outs. On a 2-2 pitch, Byrd stole his third base of the year, putting the winning run in scoring position with the count now at 3-2 on Utley. The Mets closer then intentionally walked the Phillies second baseman, bringing .218 hitter Ryan Howard to the plate. The count was full when Howard pulled a line drive into right that scored Byrd and left Mets fans everywhere shaking their heads.

Tomorrow the Mets will try to take the series and reclaim some of their honor with Jonathan Niese facing David Buchanan at 1:05 EDT.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* The Good Phight GameThread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Juan Lagares, 22.6; Josh Edgin, 22.3
Big losers: Jenrry Meija, -80.4; Vic Black, -21.2
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares triple, top of the third
Teh sux0rest play: Ryan Howard single, bottom of the ninth
Total pitcher WPA: -72.1
Total batter WPA: 22.1
GWRBI!: Ryan Howard single, bottom of the ninth

The young right-handed pitcher has been good lately, but he could be even better if his changeup becomes more effective.

There are things that New York Mets fans should look out for the rest of this season: Juan Lagares proving he can hit enough to be an everyday center fielder, Wilmer Flores getting the chance to be in the lineup consistently, and the Wilpons miraculously winning the lottery. None of those—except perhaps the lottery—is as important as the continued progress of Zack Wheeler and, specifically, the development of his changeup.

While there are legitimate concerns about Wheeler as a pitcher, he has continued to prove that his raw stuff will allow him to succeed as a starting pitcher in the long term. Wheeler would benefit from improved fastball command, but his fastball-breaking ball combination is deadly, even when he doesn’t have a clue where either pitch is going. He has been tremendous lately, pitching deeper into games and limiting the opposition even when he doesn’t have his best stuff.

That said, Wheeler won’t become an elite starter like Matt Harvey or Adam Wainwright until he develops his changeup to the point where it is a much more usable pitch. Right now, Wheeler doesn’t have a weapon in his arsenal that lets him neutralize left-handed hitters.

In reality, Wheeler’s array of pitches look like those of a reliever. His fastball and curveball are nasty enough that they will allow him to succeed as a starter, but he currently doesn’t have a pitch that he can show to left-handed hitters to keep them off balance consistently.

Wheeler has been very effective against right-handed hitters this season, as they have hit a meager .207/.283/.304against him. Left-handed hitters, however, have hit .283/.374/.425. Lefties also have a .351 batting average on balls in play against him, while righties have hit .265 on balls in play. That could be interpreted as lefties having better luck, but it could also indicate that they are making better contact against him.

Photo: Getty Images

Wheeler currently has a changeup that he mixes into most games, but he barely uses it relative to his other pitches. Via Brooks Baseball, Wheeler has relied far more on his fastball than his offspeed offerings, and he rarely uses his changeup. Right now, the pitch has the role of a "show-me" pitch to let the batter know it could be coming, but it lags behind his other pitches in terms of effectiveness.

The lack of development with his changeup is supported by Fangraphs’ PITCHf/x pitch values, where a score of zero is considered average, a negative score below average, and a positive score above average. Last season, the ineffectiveness of Wheeler’s curveball—which was assigned a pitch value of -3.6—was a major concern. But this season it has improved significantly and increased to 1.2.

Wheeler’s changeup has made no strides, as it was valued at -0.2 last season and -1.9 this season. Pitch values are far from perfect, but in this case they support what is clearly evident from watching Wheeler pitch.

Along with the fact that Wheeler’s changeup isn’t a great pitch, he also struggles to throw it for strikes, evidenced by the chart below from Brooks Baseball.

Wheeler has been lucky to throw his changeup for strikes at a 25 percent rate. As long as he can’t do that consistently, he is handicapped to the point where the pitch becomes unusable when he is behind in the count. That is acceptable against right-handed hitters who he can still fool with his breaking ball, but left-handers, who can pick up breaking balls much better against right-handed pitchers, can sit on fastballs to drive and spit on any breaking stuff as long as they are ahead in the count.

On the upside, Wheeler has made some noticeable strides with the pitch recently. The chart below shows how often opposing hitters have swung at the pitch inside and outside of the strike zone.

Until June, opposing hitters swung at every single changeup Wheeler threw in the strike zone. While it is still possible that the pitch was effective and got the hitter out in front, this indicates that most of the changeups were in the middle of the plate, giving the hitters no reason to lay off the pitch. At the same time, hitters were unlikely to chase the offering early in the season, barely swinging at it outside the zone. Since June 14, though, hitters have swung at changeups in the strike zone less often and those outside the strike zone more often.

There is still a lot to love about Wheeler as a pitcher. It is a very good sign for his future that he has been able to succeed as he has despite his lack of effectiveness against left-handed hitters. If his changeup remains a below-average offering, Wheeler might not reach his ceiling.

It’s tough for a major league pitcher to make strides with a pitch in the big leagues, but Wheeler clearly isn’t going back to the minors now. With any luck, he will improve his changeup over the offseason and in spring training next year. If he does, the Mets’ rotation looks all the more impressive heading into next season.

Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares were the Mets' best hitters over the past week.

The Mets went 3-4 over the last seven days, dropping a game to the Giants and two of three to the Nationals before taking two of three from Philadelphia, who they play again this afternoon, over the weekend. They scored 26 runs in total over those seven games, and average of 3.71 per game. At least they avoided getting shut out, which they did twice in the previous week.

Here's how each of the Mets' hitters performed.

Player	Last Week	This Week	Comment
Bobby Abreu, OF			After several weeks of struggles at the dish, Abreu was designated for assignment as the Mets look to play younger—and potentially better right now—players moving forward.
Eric Campbell, 1B/OF			Named as half of a platoon in left field moving forward, Campbell had a -23 wRC+ in 12 plate appearances.
Travis d’Arnaud, C			The rookie hit a couple of home runs and had a .397 wOBA. On the season, he’s up to an 89 wRC+, which isn’t too far below the major league average catcher’s mark of 96.
Matt den Dekker, OF	--		Recalled to take the place of Chris Young on the Mets’ roster, den Dekker went 2-for-5 over the weekend, a nice return after he raked in Triple-A Las Vegas for the past few weeks.
Lucas Duda, 1B			At .267/.333/.337, Duda wasn’t terrible at the plate, but he cooled off a bit after several weeks of being the Mets’ best hitter.
Wilmer Flores, SS			Flores got 18 plate appearances but had a 31 wRC+ in them and looked like the type of shortstop that every scouting report in the minors said he would be in the majors.
Curtis Granderson, OF			Granderson hit for little power on the week, but he got on base at a reasonable clip and walked more times than he struck out.
Juan Lagares, CF			The defensive wiz was as good at the plate as he was in the field over the last week, if not better, as he hit .370/.433/.556. With a couple more weeks even close to this one, his hitting stats could look pretty good by year’s end.
Daniel Murphy, 2B			What a week for Murphy, who hit .400/.429/.594, a line good enough to earn 0.5 fWAR over the past week alone to set a new career high by that metric at 3.1 this year.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF	--		At .273/.333/.273, Nieuwenhuis joined several of his teammates in earning the sideways arrow.
Anthony Recker, C			Recker went 0-for-5 and did not reach base in his lone start of the week.
Ruben Tejada, SS			Flores might not have had a good week, but Tejada might not take playing time back from him if he hits .167/.167/.167 like he did this week.
David Wright, 3B			Like Duda, Granderson, and Nieuwenhuis, Wright hit a bit and got on base at a non-awful clip, but he hit for little power in the process.
Chris Young, OF			Young had a 57 wRC+ on the week before the Mets finally designated him for assignment.
Eric Young Jr., OF			Young made only four plate appearances but failed to reach base in any of them.

Zack Wheeler, Dillon Gee, and Bartolo Colon were very good over the past week. Some of the Mets' other pitchers were not.

The Mets' pitching staff was all over the place over the past week. The rotation was stronger than the bullpen overall, but there were some less-than-stellar performances from both factions. In total, the Mets ranked in the bottom third of baseball in ERA and FIP over that span. Here's how each player performed.

Player	Last Week	This Week	Comment
Vic Black, RHP			The peripherals were good, but the results were not, as Black gave up two runs over 3.1 innings.
Buddy Carlyle, RHP			Carlyle pitched another 3.1 scoreless innings, which gives him a 0.66 ERA and 2.03 FIP in 13.2 innings of work in the big leagues this year.
Bartolo Colon, P			Colon gave up just one run in eight innings of work, and he struck out six without walking anybody. It still would not be a shock to see him dealt to a contender before the waiver trade deadline passes.
Jacob deGrom, RHP			deGrom gave up three runs in six innings with four strikeouts and a walk, but the biggest news about him was that he will miss his start on Tuesday with shoulder soreness.
Josh Edgin, LHP			Edgin tossed 4.1 scoreless frames to continue his surprisingly great season.
Dana Eveland, LHP			Eveland gave up a couple of runs in 2.1 innings, giving him a 7.71 ERA on the week.
Jeurys Familia, RHP			Walks were a problem for Familia, and he’s still not striking out the world, but he managed to have another effective week out of the bullpen.
Dillon Gee, RHP			With a 2.13 ERA over 12.2 innings in a pair of starts this week, Gee looked much more like his pre-disabled list self than the guy who struggled after coming off the disabled list.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP			On the disabled list with elbow inflammation, Matsuzaka is scheduled to make a rehab start for High-A St. Lucie this evening.
Jenrry Mejia, RHP			Mejia gave up four runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work this week, and he’s dealt with a balky calf and a hernia lately.
Jon Niese, LHP			Niese’s lone outing of the week was a stinker.
Carlos Torres, RHP			Torres only pitched one inning, but he allowed three runs in it. He had a 2.88 ERA on July 12 but has a 3.61 ERA today.
Zack Wheeler, RHP			While his strikeout and walk rates—19.2 and 13.5 percent, respectively—were not great, Wheeler threw 12.2 innings over two starts with a 2.84 ERA.

Washington Nationals' lefty Gio Gonzalez wasn't at his best last night in Turner Field in the 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, but one play in particular stuck in Nats fans' collective craw. If only Gio had gotten over to cover first in the fifth...

If Gio had gone right over to first this would have never have happened. [ed. note - "Hipster cred note: That's a 49-year-old Woody Woodpecker reference. +10 pts hipster cred for obscure cultural reference. The kids love those."] The Atlanta Braves scored an insurance run late, but the run they scored on a two-out, runners-on-first-and-third grounder to take the lead in the fifth inning in what was then a 1-1 game, was the big one. Gio Gonzalez hesitated for a moment, watching the play unfold, with Adam LaRoche lunging for the grounder off Jason Heyward's bat and coming up empty only to have it roll to Danny Espinosa, who fielded it on the right field grass but had no one to throw to at first. Gonzalez sprinted over to the bag, but the brief second he delayed cost him and the Nationals.

LaRoche took some of the blame in his post game comments, telling reporters including NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman that he misjudged his ability to get to the ball.

"'I should’ve got a better read on the ball,'" LaRoche said, "'and obviously [Gonzalez] should have been over there. Just very typical of the way we give up runs against these guys.'"

Gonzalez too took the blame when he spoke to reporters, telling The Washington Post's James Wagner, "'I should’ve got over. Simple as that. There's no excuse. You gotta get over on that ball. Keep your team in the game.'"

Matt Williams, as quoted by MASNSports.com's Courtney Lofgren, said Gonzalez should have been over at first.

"'Ultimately, that's the difference in the game. If it's 1-1 there, we may have a different story. ... Ultimately, the lack of making that play is the difference.'"

If Gio had gone right to the police...

Woody Woodpecker: "Ah, shut up!"

Some post lunch time reading coming up, sorry, we took the morning off and finally quit trying to get this done last night around 3:30 AM... Links and lots of them. Starting... RIGHT NOW!!!:

• THE BIG STORY!!!:

• "The Lerners won’t flinch about going to war in court, and won’t bat an eye about seemingly outrageous demands. And Angelos, as we know, has everything he owns — including the Orioles— because he is a litigator." - "Will Nats-Orioles MASN dispute keep All-Stars away?" - Thom Loverro, Washington Times

• NATS BEAT:

• "Overview: I'm delighted that this brawl is finally coming out into the open. And I'm glad that the Lerners have finally decided to stop waiting for Selig to act and gone to the heavier artillery." - "Ask Boswell: Redskins, Nationals and Washington sports" - Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post

• "Souza reported feeling better on Saturday afternoon but still wasn’t sure if he was ready to swing a bat." - "Michael A. Taylor call-up official, Steven Souza Jr. to the DL (UPDATED)" - James Wagner, Washington Post

• "This is the culmination of long-awaited journey for Taylor, the Nationals’ ninth-round pick in the 2009 draft." -"Nationals call up Michael Taylor, place Steven Souza Jr. on DL" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "According to manager Matt Williams, Souza couldn't swing a bat on Saturday, and he was sent to Washington on Sunday to get the shoulder checked out by the team doctor." - "Souza sent for MRI on ailing left shoulder" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "He possesses elite defensive ability, according to scouts. Back in spring training, Matt Williams said Taylor's defense rated as an 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale." - "Nationals Pastime: Nats recall Michael Taylor, place Souza on DL with left shoulder contusion" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

Today a dream came true and a prayer answered. Thanks to everyone for the support and love. #ohmystomachpic.twitter.com/Ncq3AI0nxA

— Michael A Taylor (@Taylor_Michael3) August 10, 2014

• "The previous season started with then-Potomac hitting coach Mark Harris working on adjusting Taylor's approach..." - "Michael Taylor's measured ascension through minors sped up in 2014 (updated)" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "The Nationals, believe it or not, still lead the division by 3 1/2 games and still sit in a decidedly advantageous position in the big picture." -"Nationals miss, not squander, opportunity to separate from Braves" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

Gio Gonzalez on failure to cover first: "Should've got over, simple as that. There's no excuse."

— Mark Zuckerman (@ZuckermanCSN) August 11, 2014

• "At first, Syracuse manager Billy Gardner Jr. told him that he wasn't playing because he didn't try hard enough to first base on a ground ball." - "Nats prospect Taylor excited for big league callup" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "The Nationals dropped two of the three games — by a combined three runs — and saw their division lead trimmed to 3 1/2 games." - "Leftover observations from the Nationals’ weekend in Atlanta" - James Wagner, Washington Post

• "Particularly frustrated was Adam LaRoche, who entered red-hot for the month of August but wound up striking out four times, stranding five men on base in the process." - "Instant analysis: Braves 3, Nats 1" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "When he reached for the ball at the wall, his glove was up over his head and the exposed shoulder hit the wall." - "Jayson Werth is dealing with AC joint inflammation in right shoulder" - James Wagner, Washington Post

• "Werth said he was diagnosed with inflammation of the AC joint, an injury that might have been triggered by a catch up against the wall August 1 in Washington." - "Jayson Werth trying to play through AC joint inflammation in shoulder" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "Ultimately, that's the difference in the game. If it's 1-1 there, we may have a different story. ... Ultimately, the lack of making that play is the difference." - "Nationals Pastime: Williams on the Nats' 3-1 loss to Braves" - Courtney Lofgren, MASNSports.com

• "But their inability to grab the division by the throat, especially against the team chasing them, has been an unnerving trend." - "Nationals vs. Braves: Gio Gonzalez outdueled by Alex Wood as Washington falls in series finale, 3-1" - James Wagner, The Washington Post

• "Both Gonzalez and first baseman Adam LaRoche, whose lunging stab at the ball hit to his right came up short, took blame for the gaffe." - "Fundamental mistake dooms Nationals in 3-1 loss to Braves" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "For the third straight start, Gonzalez wasn't himself on the mound." -"Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves - August 10, 2014" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap

• Your Daily Message from the Dalai Lama on Twitter (@DalaiLama):

It is always helpful to remain honest and truthful in the face of difficulty.

— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) April 21, 2014

• NATIONAL(S) BEAT:

• "Span’s batted-ball profile during the streak is a little different than the norms he established over the past season and a half." - "Span providing Nationals a big boost" - Mark Simon, Stats & Info Blog - ESPN

• "Let'€™s travel back to the end of June, when Harper hypothetically removed Denard Span from the lineup." - "Harper for Manager of the Year" - Gabe Kapler, FOX Sports

• "For what it's worth, Harper denied scuffing the logo on purpose." - "Bryce Harper drawing heat for scuffing Braves logo at Turner Field" - Mark Townsend, Big League Stew - Yahoo Sports

• "[deGrom] experienced shoulder soreness following his start on Thursday against the Nationals, in which he allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings." -"Washington Nationals at New York Mets - August 12, 2014" - Marla Torres, MLB.com Preview

• "It's a bit unusual for us to see a top prospect called up essentially straight from AA to the majors..." -"MLB Prospect Review: Michael Taylor, OF, Washington Nationals" - Jason Hunt, Fake Teams

MLB Prospect Review: Michael Taylor, OF, Washington Nationals http://t.co/kt7xkZG8Qp

— Ray Guilfoyle (@faketeams) August 11, 2014

• "Though he had already matched a career-high 114 pitches, Wood certainly deserved the chance to start the eighth..." -"Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves - August 10, 2014" - Mark Bowman, MLB.com ATL Recap

• "Walters did not do much (0-for-3 with a walk) in his debut with the Tribe, but Francona and the rest of the Cleveland brass are eager to be getting a first-hand look at the versatile player at the big league level." - "Walters makes debut with Indians in left field" - Jordan Bastian, indians.com: News

• "It looks like Zach Walters and Tyler Holt are going to be around for a while judging by the nature of the injuries to David Murphy and Nick Swisher." - "It's time to shine for Cleveland Indians' newcomers Zach Walters, Tyler Holt" - Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

• "Caleb Clay was promoted to the Los Angeles Angels roster Sunday, marking his first-ever major league callup." - "Caleb Clay cracks Angels' roster, earns 1st MLB callup" - Rpb Ketcham, CullmanTimes.com - Cullman, Alabama

• "The Tigers will call up left handed starting pitcher, Robbie Ray, from Triple-A Toledo to take the place of Anibal Sanchez, at least for the time being." - "Robbie Ray will replace Sanchez in Tigers' starting rotation, at least temporarily" - Patrick O'Kennedy, Bless You Boys

• NATS MINORS:

• Class-A Auburn:

VIDEO: Despite early deficit, Auburn Doubledays roar back and rout Vermont (w/ Read HR, most #Ddays runs) http://t.co/0MXYI6ua86

— Jeremy Houghtaling (@CitizenHough) August 11, 2014

• Low-A Hagerstown: "The Suns will send RHP Lucas Giolito (8-2) to the mound for his 19th start and appearance of the year." -"Suns complete four-game sweep of Kannapolis" - Eli Pearlstein, Hagerstown Suns News

• High-A Potomac: "The Potomac Nationals and Salem Red Sox were rained out for the third consecutive day on Sunday afternoon." -"Series Sweep Goes To Rain, P-Nats And Red Sox PPD Again" - Potomac Nationals News

• Double-A Harrisburg: "The Harrisburg Senators struggled again versus Binghamton pitching in a 3-0 loss on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,957 fans at Metro Bank Park." - "Simmons and Bullpen Not Enough for Senators" - Perry Mattern, Harrisburg Senators News

And updated list of ex-@HbgSenators in the pros, with Taylor & Clay earning first @MLB promotions today ... http://t.co/BEP6Q9gEGn

— Geoff Morrow (@RageAgainstGMo) August 11, 2014

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Right-hander A.J. Cole threw seven innings of one-run ball to keep the Chiefs at least one game up in the International League North." - "Cole, Chiefs ace Bats on Sunday" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• "The Washington Nationals today placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr. on the 15-day disabled list with a left shoulder contusion and recalled outfielder Michael A. Taylor from Syracuse." -"Washington Nationals put Steven Souza Jr. on DL, recall Michael Taylor from Syracuse Chiefs" - Lindsay Kramer, syracuse.com

• "He's very athletic, with above-average speed, a strong throwing arm, and exceptional outfield instincts." - "Washington Nationals promote prospect Michael Taylor" - John Sickels, Minor League Ball

Nationals expected to promote outfield prospect Michael A. Taylor for tonight's game. Here is a quick report http://t.co/SRCUEpPMKK

— johnsickels (@MinorLeagueBall) August 10, 2014

• "THE Official Midseason Washington Nationals Top Prospect Rankings" - Ryan Sullivan, NatsGM

• NATSTOWN:

• "After the marathon game Saturday night, including a nearly four-hour rain delay then extra innings, the Washington Nationals could have used a crisp, clean outing from starter Gio Gonzalez." - "Washington Nationals Game 116 Review: Gio shaky, offense absent in Sunday night loss to Braves" - Dave Nichols, District Sports Page

AUDIO: #Nats Nightly = @NationalsDSP + FBB on the #Nats' 3-1 loss to the #Braves in Atlanta, Gio Gonzalez + more: http://t.co/lBVNYQM3N2

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) August 11, 2014

• "At 111 pitches, Gonzalez was pulled after a strange outing that might have seemed better with more offensive support." - "Weak Bats Send Nats To Series Loss in Atlanta" - Joe Drugan, The Nats Blog

• "Monday Quickie : On the Job Training" - Harper, Nationals Baseball

• NL EAST UPDATE:

•Marlins: "Even with Jarred Cosart and Henderson Alvarez scheduled to rejoin the rotation this week, Penny will remain in the rotation — at least for the time being." - "CINCINNATI: Brad Penny’s win brings back fond memories for ex-Marlins manager Jack McKeon" - Clark Spencer, MiamiHerald.com

• Braves: "Teheran is 10-8 with a 2.92 ERA on the season. He had success when he last faced the Dodgers, on July 31..." - "Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves - August 11, 2014" - Caitlin Swieca, MLB.com Preview

RECAP: @Awood45 pitches #Braves to series win over Nats with 12-K gem. http://t.co/NO9mYivKEepic.twitter.com/kzki81W4rR

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 11, 2014

• Phillies: "Two of the worst pitching staffs in baseball jettisoned Jerome Williams this season, but the veteran righthander has found a new home with the pitching-starved Phillies." - "Phillies Notes: Phillies add journeyman Jerome Williams, who could start Tuesday" - Matt Gelb, Philadelphia Inquirer

• Mets:"Rookie sensation Jacob deGrom is experiencing shoulder soreness and will undergo an MRI in New York today." - "Mets' Jacob deGrom to undergo testing due to shoulder soreness" - Matt Ehalt, NorthJersey.com