Iowa won a magical game with a big hit by a magical player. The Smokies won on a walk-off as well.

Late tonight, the Cubs traded former first-round pick Brett Jackson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-handed pitcher Blake Cooper. We'll have more on this deal tomorrow.

Iowa Cubs

Kris Bryant hit his 40th home run of the season with a man on in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Iowa Cubs stunned the Las Vegas 51s (Mets), 6-5.

Dallas Beeler started this game and allowed three runs on six hits, including two home runs, in six innings. Beeler struck out five and walked one.

Marcos Mateo gave up a run in the top of the 12th inning on a home run to Matt Reynolds, which was Reynolds' second home run of the game. But Mateo ended up getting the win when Bryant answered with a game-ending blast of his own. Mateo pitched two innings and allowed one run on two hits. He struck out four and didn't walk anyone.

Bryant had a rough night before that home run, as he was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts before he hit the two-run bomb. It was his 18th home run for Iowa this year. He was intentionally walked once.

And we have video:

Bryant's heroics overshadowed yet another home run tonight by first baseman Mike Olt, which came with a man on in the third inning. He also doubled in a 2 for 5 evening. He has seven home runs for Iowa this year, including five in his last seven games.

Center fielder Matt Szczur was 3 for 6 with two steals and one run scored. Second baseman Logan Watkins was 3 for 6 and also stole two bases. Watkins had one run batted in and he scored on the Bryant home run.

Manny Ramirez was 2 for 3.

The Salt Lake Bees scored five runs after two were out in the top of the ninth to beat the Omaha Storm Chasers, 11-8. With Omaha's loss, Iowa takes a one-game lead over Omaha.

Tennessee Smokies

Dustin Geiger singled home Albert Almora in the bottom of the ninth as the Tennessee Smokies topped the Huntsville Stars (Brewers), 1-0.

It was a battle of top pitching prospects as C.J. Edwards faced off against the Brewers' Jed Bradley in this game. Edwards didn't appear to be that sharp, but he relied on his defense and didn't give many free passes as he threw six scoreless innings. Edwards gave up four hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Frank Batista pitched a perfect top of the ninth and got his fourth win. He struck out one.

It should be noted that the Smokies made several outstanding defensive plays in this game. I can remember ones by Almora, Christian Villanueva and Stephen Bruno off the top of my head. I believe there were others.

Center fielder Almora was 2 for 4, as was first baseman Geiger. Catcher Taylor Davis was 2 for 3.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs split a doubleheader with the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers), winning game one 6-2 and losing the second one 2-1.

In game one, Jose Rosario started and got his fifth win after he pitched five innings and gave up two runs five hits. He struck out three and walked two.

Billy McKinneyhit a three-run double in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the third inning for four runs batted in. He was 1 for 3.

Third baseman Ben Carhart was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI single in his Daytona debut for this season. Left fielder Rock Shoulders was 1 for 2 with a triple and two walks. He scored twice.

In game two, Justin Amlung was the hard-luck loser. He allowed two unearned runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Second baseman Wes Darvill was 1 for 3 with a double. He scored Daytona's only run.

Kane County Cougars

The Kane County Cougars locked up the Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros), 4-1.

Starter Duane Underwood did not allow a run over the first five innings. He gave up three hits. He walked four and struck out four.

Jasvir Rakkar pitched two scoreless innings and got his first win this season. Rakkar walked one and didn't strike anyone out.

Kane County won when then scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The key blow was a three-run home run by Trey Martin, his second of the season. Martin was 1 for 3.

Third baseman Chesny Young was 2 for 3 with a double and one run scored.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks jumped over the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks), 7-2.

Jeremy Null pitched the first three innings, giving up one run on three hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

Trey Lang pitched the next four innings and got the win. He allowed one run on one hit. He walked one and struck out one.

The Hawks scored five times in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by center fielder Rashad Crawford, which just so happened to be his first professional home run. Crawford was 1 for 3 with two walks.

Third baseman Jesse Hodges was a perfect 4 for 4. He had one run scored and had one RBI.

AZL Cubs

Lost to the Diamondbacks, 6-2.

In the [insert trivia answer here] edition, we talk Rafael Montero, Terry Collins, and whether or not we'd trade for Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez now, among other things.

Runtime: 1:18:15

While Jeff is traveling the country to see some low-level Mets minor league baseball, Rob and I take the mics for a podcast named after an obscure trivia question involving the number 81. As was the case the last time we hosted, it seems like the Mets' season really is over, though as Rob points out, the Mets went on a good run right after we said that last time. And then we talk about Rafael Montero's start, Brandon Nimmo and Dilson Herrera, the season-ending injuries to Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. And, of course, we wrap up with your emails.

As always, you can listen or subscribe to the podcast through iTUNES, find us on the Stitcher app, listen through the embedded player below, or download the podcast directly from Blog Talk Radio.

Don't forget you can e-mail the show at podcast@amazinavenueaudio.com. And if Jeff had promised we would keep this one to under two hours, we would have held our end of the bargain.

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

Meet the Mets

Mets villain Adam LaRoche and Bryce Harper both homered, while Stephen Strasburg shut down the Mets' offense in a 4-1 Nationals win last night. It was Washington's 11th straight victory in Queens.

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

Before the game, the Mets announced that they have signed Bobby Abreu to a minor league contract.

Matt Harveytalked to ESPN Radio about his rehab from Tommy John surgery, ice water challenges, and men's underwear.

Terry Collins made it clear that he didn't appreciate Harvey rushing the rehab process or doing radio interviews in the middle of Mets games.

The team also came to terms with a 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop named Kenny Hernandez.

Joel Sherman reports that the Mets could be playing for Terry Collins' job during the remainder of the season. This is in contract with a Jon Heyman report that we discussed in yesterday's MMN.

Travis d'Arnaud, who has slugged .511 since being promoted from Las Vegas in late June, has solidified his presence as the Mets' starting catcher.

Mark Simon interviewed Jerry Seinfeld about his lifelong love of the Mets. "There's no such thing as too many stats," says the comedian.

Around the NL East

The results are never good when you continue to start Aaron Harang long after his deal with the devil has run out. The Braves found that out the hard way. Also, Yasiel Puig made a great catch in center field.

The Marlinscame from behind to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. Marcell Ozuna notched the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th.

With Troy Tulowitzki out for the rest of the season, Giancarlo Stanton has a real shot at the NL MVP award.

That Phillie Phanatic sure plays a mean banjo.

Around the Majors

Bud Selig's right-hand man Rob Manfred has been elected to become MLB's next commissioner.

The Cardinals defeated the Padres 4-3 with the help of another controversial call at home plate.

Tigers closer Joe Nathanapologized for the strange gesture he made towards Detroit fans the other night.

If you still judge pitchers by their win/loss record, then Jose Quintana of the White Sox is the unluckiest pitcher alive.

Speaking of wins, Max Scherzerstruck out 14 Buccos en route to his 14th of the season.

Along with Tulowitzki, Colorado's star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is also likely to be shut down for the season. Who the heck are Mets fans supposed to gossip about now?

Houston's Domingo Santana is having to wait a long time for his first big league knock.

Here's a bunch of major leaguers getting ice water dumped on them in honor of ALS awareness.

Yesterday at AA

Peter Quadrino broke down how Sandy Alderson finally formed a competent Mets bullpen.

Michael Avallone tells us why Matt Reynolds could be the Mets' shortstop of the future.

On this date in 1965, the Beatles played the most famous concert in Shea Stadium's history.

The Washington Nationals swept their three-game set from the New York Mets this week, but almost blew a late lead on Wednesday night. A play at the plate was reviewed, but the call was upheld. Matt Williams agreed with the call, Terry Collins, not so much...

The Washington Nationals swept the New York Mets with Thursday's win, but on Wednesday night the Nats came close to blowing a late lead to their NL East rivals.

Jordan Zimmermann and the first two members of the Nationals' "A" 'pen, Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard, handed a 3-1 lead to closer Rafael Soriano, but the veteran right-hander struggled with his command after a couple days off waiting for a save opportunity.

A 2-2 fastball up in the zone to Mets' catcher Travis d'Arnaud ended up in the left field seats in Citi Field as New York pulled within one and singles by Matt den Dekker and Wilmer Flores, with a botched bunt attempt between them, put runners on first and third with one down.

"Just the ball up in the zone. Just up, middle," Nationals manager Matt Williams said when asked about Soriano's struggles. "The homer was, he missed location and both base hits up the middle he missed location, so just a little off. Regular work is key for guys, but sometimes in the closer role you don't get it, so, we were able to hold on."

The Nats did hold on, but only after a controversial call that once again highlighted the ambiguous nature of the new rules regarding plays at the plate.

den Dekker took third on the single by Flores, and pinch runner Eric Young, Jr., who took over for Flores at first, stole second to put two runners in scoring position with one down, taking away the chance of an easy game-ending double play.

The Nationals' first-year skipper brought his infielders in and with pinch hitter Eric Campbell up, Soriano got the grounder the Nats wanted. Campbell sent an 0-1 pitch out to short where Ian Desmond fielded it coming in and threw home to Wilson Ramos. The throw pulled Ramos to his left and into the basepath but he appeared to give den Dekker a lane as he tagged the runner out.

Home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater punched den Dekker out, and after a review requested by Mets manager Terry Collins the ruling was upheld.

"Four hours ago, he's safe," Collins said after the game, referring to a play at the plate in the White Sox and Giants game earlier Wednesday afternoon which was overturned with the runner originally ruled out then called safe when it was decided that catcher Tyler Flowers blocked Gregor Blanco's path. "As we saw on the tv tonight. Four hours later he's out, so I don't know what to say."

Unlike Ramos, Flowers did appear to start in the basepath and move more to his left, blocking the path completely.

Collins believed den Dekker did everything right.

"No doubt, absolutely," Collins said. "You've got to challenge him. We're tying the game, we've still got a guy in scoring position.

"As a matter of fact, we still have [Curtis Granderson] coming up, we're still in the same certain situation, he did absolutely right, did thd same thing, slid straight in, didn't try to go around the catcher, did it all right."

The out call was upheld after a minute and a half of review, but the play was only possible because the Nationals' drawn-in infield gave them the opportunity.

"I was very surprised, I really was," Collins said when asked about Williams' gamble, "but Matt knows what he's doing and they go the ground ball they needed."

"They're halfway," Williams explained. "They're not all the way in. We want to give them some range, because a base hit loses the game for you, so [Desmond] made a nice play, came and got the ball and threw a strike to Wilson at the plate."

As the rules regarding plays at the plate read, Ramos appeared to do things correctly.

"Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball," the language of Rule 7.13 reads, "the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the Umpire, the catcher, without possession of the ball, blocks the pathway of the runner, the Umpire shall call or signal the runner safe."

Denard Span talked Stephen Strasburg before Thursday's game

Photo © Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports

Ramos gave den Dekker a path to the plate until the throw pulled him into the line, but even then he tagged the runner with a sweeping motion and stepped out of the lane as den Dekker slid in.

"The throw took him there," Williams said. "Wilson set up and the throw takes him into the runner. I think that the fact that he swipe-tagged him and kind of got out of the way. He could have, ordinarily a catcher can in past years just sits down on the plate and the guy can't get past him, but he gave him some space and swipe-tagged him out."

Ramos gave the runner a path to the plate. Flowers, who was a few inches farther to the left and in the path when he received a throw from first did appear to block the baserunner's path. It should be fun in the postseason when a nationally televised game is inevitably decided this way.

Guest Blogger Patrick Reddington of @federalbaseball says the Nats' plays at the plate need to improve. http://t.co/y1YeNcfH4Z

— Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) August 15, 2014

With no guarantees of playing time coming into the 2014 season, Duda has rewarded the Mets for their faith in him.

Lucas Duda came into the 2014 season fighting for his job with his good friend, Ike Davis. Throughout spring training, everyone debated which player the Mets should keep for the long term. It was clear that the Mets were not inclined to keep both Davis and Duda on the roster for very long. The Mets made their decision on April 18 when Ike Davis was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since the trade, Lucas Duda has flourished. How good has he been? Let’s take a look.

As the everyday first baseman, Lucas Duda has had a breakout season. He’s been a completely different player and his teammates, including David Wright, have noticed. When asked about Lucas Duda’s success so far this season, Wright said, “It’s just amazing the transformation in such a short time period where he’s become one of the more dangerous hitters in the National League.” Duda has already set personal single-season highs in hits, doubles, stolen bases, home runs, RBI, and runs scored. Among first basemen, Duda ranks in the top 10 in home-runs (6th), RBI (9th), walks (8th), OPS (8th), and slugging percentage (7th).

Duda has actually been a better hitter on the road this season. In 60 games away from Citi Field, Duda is hitting .281/.371/.481 with ten home runs and 32 RBI. He’s hitting .227/.326/.506 at home. Furthermore, his BABIP is significantly higher on the road (.327 road vs. .238 home).

Duda has been a key contributor when the Mets win. In the 53 games that the Mets have won, Duda has hit .305/.415/.609 with 13 home runs, 42 RBI, 14 doubles, and 39 runs scored with a 1.025 OPS.

It’s no secret that Duda crushes fastballs. Fangraphs uses a metric called wFB/C, fastball runs above average per 100 pitches, to measure how effective a hitter is against fastballs. This season, Duda is second in baseball with a 2.24 wFB/C. In the past, Duda looked at fastballs when he was ahead in the count. Not this season. He has been much more aggressive early in the count as well. He has hit eight home runs within the first two pitches of an at-bat this season.

As you can see in the spray chart below, most of Duda’s hits this season have been to center field and right field. Duda is primarily a pull hitter and many teams use an overload shift to the first base side against Duda. However, he has still had a lot of success pulling the ball against the shift. Duda has a .376 pull ISO, which ranks in the top 20 in baseball.

It’s been a very positive season for Lucas Duda so far, but there are still lots of adjustments to be made to his game. Most notably, Duda needs to improve against left-handed pitchers. He has hit .167/.250/.222 with 27 strikeouts in 80 plate appearances against lefties this season, a futility rate that can’t continue if he is going to be the everyday first baseman.

The Mets entered the 2014 season with two underachieving first basemen and the difficult task of betting on just one of them. It appears that the Mets have made the right choice.

After the team was embarrassed by the Nationals, maybe four games with the Cubs can perk up the Mets.

What's going on with the Cubs?

Ah, the Cubbies. With a 52-68 record, Chicago's plucky little bears are far from the playoff hunt, but that hasn't stopped the team from putting together a 10-7 mark since late July. The Cubs aren't under the type of financial strain that Mets' ownership is, but team president Theo Epstein has nevertheless taken a patient approach to building up this franchise that is famous for losing.

Even in another rebuilding year, there are plenty of bright spots on the Cubs. Starlin Castro has posted a solid bounce-back season after a dreadful 2013, and Anthony Rizzo has blossomed into one of the National League's premier sluggers with 27 home runs and a .379 on-base percentage. The team also added to its deep farm system by grabbing hot shortstop prospect Addison Russell from the Athletics in exchange for starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.

Seeing as how Samardzjia and Hammel were two of Chicago's best hurlers, the trade significantly weakened the team's rotation. However, surprisingly strong performances from Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, and Tsuyoshi Wada have kept the Cubs competitive after the trade deadline.

Despite a bunch of talented youngsters in both the major and minor leagues, the Cubs' strongest asset might still be considered Wrigley Field, whose allure to baseball fans allows the Cubs to post respectable attendance figures, even in times of famine like these.

Who are these guys?

Javier Baez is possibly the most exciting thing to happen to the Cubs this season. The middle infield prospect saw his name floated in trade rumors this summer after the team acquired Russell, but Baez has played like a keeper since being promoted to the big leagues on August 5. In 10 starts at second base since then, Baez has hit two doubles and four home runs. He hasn't walked yet, and his 17 strikeouts are a bit much, but the power that Baez has put on display as a 21-year-old is quite rare for the position he plays. Maybe the kid does end up being traded, but for now he's a sign that Epstein knows what he's doing.

Arismendy Alcantara may not have the same type of hype attached to him as Baez does, but he's still a player who is very young for the big leagues and could be important to Chicago's future. Like Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton, Alcantara is a speedster who can play both the infield and the outfield. He's not the same type of base-stealing demon that Hamilton is, but Alcantara did swipe 21 bases in 89 games at Triple-A this season while getting caught just three times. As a 22-year-old, Alcantara has struggled to adjust to big league pitching (.219/.289/.359 so far), but he has shown a lot of promise as a defender in center field.

Who's on the mound?

Friday: Travis Wood vs. Zack Wheeler

Last season, Wood posted a 3.11 ERA and looked like an important piece in the Cubs' future. This season, his walk rate and BABIP have dramatically increased, leading to a 4.86 ERA and 4.14 FIP. The true Wood is probably somewhere in between the 2013 and 2014 versions, but to find that guy, the lefty has got to stop walking close to four batters per nine innings. In his one start against the Mets this season, Wood walked five in five innings, but only allowed two runs in a 7-4 Cubs victory.

Wood, of course, is not the only pitcher whom I've tasked with lowering his walk rate in this space. Another one of those guys is Wheeler, and he's done a great job to improve his command this season. Lately, though, the right-hander is slipping with seven total walks in his last two starts. Those walks lead to high pitch counts, which is why Wheeler still hasn't completed the seventh inning since mid-June. In a start at Wrigely earlier this season, Wheeler pitched quite well, with sevens strikeouts, two walks, and zero runs allowed in 6.2 innings.

Saturday: Dan Straily vs. Jon Niese

The other guy acquired from the Athletics in the trade for Russell, Straily is expected to be called up and make his Cubs debut on Saturday in order to give the rest of the rotation a breather. The right-hander is a guy who has never found solid footing in the big leagues, but he's still only 25 years old and has the chance to be a back-of-the-rotation starter in the future. Between Iowa (Cubs) and Sacramento (Athletics), Straily has struck out over a batter per inning in the Pacific Coast League this season.

Those who expected Niese to come back from his mild shoulder injury as a stronger pitcher were disappointed when the lefty posted four consecutive uninspiring performances. During his last time out, though, Niese looked like his old self with two runs allowed in seven innings against the Phillies. Maybe all it took was a friendly opponent to help reboot Niese's season. We'll see if he can put the momentum to good use this weekend.

Sunday: Jake Arrieta vs. Rafael Montero

One of the surprise performers of the 2014 season, Arrieta has proven to be a late bloomer with a 2.77 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in this, his age-28 season. It doesn't look like a fluke, either. Arrieta's strikeout rate, walk rate, and ground ball rate are all career bests, and he's allowed more than three runs in only three starts this year. The Mets looked to score several runs off of Arietta back on June 3, but only managed one despite putting 10 runners on base in 4.2 innings.

Montero earned a promotion to Queens with 14.2 innings and zero runs allowed in his last two Las Vegas starts. Back in the bigs against Washington, though, Montero once again looked quite ordinary. Washington blitzed the right-hander with five runs and three home runs during his five innings pitched, and he's now allowed eight round-trippers in just five major league starts. That's pretty amazing considering that Montero has allowed only four home runs in 17 PCL starts this season. Hopefully he'll get on track once making some adjustments to big league hitting.

Monday: Kyle Hendricks vs. Bartolo Colon

Acquired from the Rangers two seasons ago in the Ryan Dempster trade, Hendricks has never been ranked alongside the top prospects in Chicago's system. Like many pitchers with modest strikeout rates before him, though, Hendricks has made himself effective with extraordinary command. After walking just 2.02 batters per nine in 17 PCL starts this season, Hendricks got even better upon promotion and is now walked fewer than two batters per nine. On the other hand, his strikeout rate has taken a big hit, but a little BABIP and strand rate magic have helped the 24-year-old right-hander post a 1.73 ERA (3.60 FIP) in 41.2 major league innings.

Hendricks would do well to study what Colon is doing in the majors this season. Even without a classic "out pitch," the big right-hander is striking out around seven batters per nine innings. That's a lot considering Colon's minuscule walk rate. The secret to this is Colon's two-seam fastball, which he uses to make left-handed hitters very uncomfortable. Bryce Harper appeared baffled by the pitch in Colon's most recent outing, and he ended up surrendering just two runs in seven innings against Washington.

Prediction: The struggling Mets earn a split with the Cubs.

What about some highlights?

Baez is a 21-year-old with seriously impressive power.

Nate Schierholtz has since been released, so he won't be able to break the Mets' hearts again.

With the Cubs out of contention, it's hard to blame this old-fashioned scoreboard operator for passing out on the job.

Don't forget to hit up FanDuel.com for some fun one-day fantasy action!

The Cubs head out to New York for a quick four-game road trip, finishing their season series against the Mets.

Thanks to another spectacular(ly bad) performance by Edwin Jackson on Thursday, the Cubs split their four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers and ended up at 3-4 on the seven-game homestand. Honestly, given that the seven games were against the Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, I feel pretty happy with that result. With the homestand over, the Cubs' record now stands at 52-68, one-half game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks (52-69) and one-half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies (53-68) in the National League reverse standings race. The Colorado Rockies continue to sink further into the basement at 47-74, now five games behind Arizona.

In what seems to have been a "well, we can't find anywhere else to put it; let's shoehorn it in here" scheduling maneuver, the Cubs now take to the road for four games against the New York Mets in a series that ends on Monday. It's a bit of a head-scratcher, that's for sure. The Mets come into the series at 57-65, currently sitting on a three-game losing streak after being swept by the Washington Nationals. The Cubs have won three consecutive series at Citi Field going back to 2011, winning two games out of three each time.

LIKELY PITCHING MATCHUPS:

Friday: Travis Wood (7-9, 4.86 ERA, 1.525 WHIP) vs. Zack Wheeler (7-8, 3.53 ERA, 1.333 WHIP)
Saturday:Dan Straily (Cubs debut) vs. Jon Niese (6-8, 3.46 ERA, 1.271 WHIP)
Sunday:Jake Arrieta (6-4, 2.77 ERA, 1.051 WHIP) vs. Rafael Montero (0-3, 6.12 ERA, 1.640 WHIP)
Monday:Kyle Hendricks (4-1, 1.73 ERA, 1.008 WHIP) vs. Bartolo Colon (11-10, 3.85 ERA, 1.153 WHIP)

The Cub rotation is undergoing a bit of a change as Straily will be making his debut as a Cub on Saturday, pushing Arrieta and Hendricks to Sunday and Monday according to Carrie Muskat. Straily had a 1-2 record with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.252 WHIP in seven starts for the Oakland Athletics this season and he was 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.282 WHIP in seven starts at Triple-A Iowa. Does this spell the end of the line for Edwin Jackson? Only time will tell.

The only Mets starter of the four listed who the Cubs have previously faced this season is Wheeler. In his start against the Cubs June 3 he allowed only two hits and two walks over 6⅔ scoreless innings, but the Cubs ended up winning the game 2-1 thanks to a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth from Nate Schierholtz. Yes, you did read that correctly.

THE OFFENSE:

The Mets offense features two starters whose OPS is at or above .750:

• Lucas Duda, 1B, .833
• Daniel Murphy, 2B, .777

Nothing has changed on the Met list since the Cubs last played them in early June. They're still struggling to hit, sitting next to last in the National League in batting average (.238) and OPS (.666). The month of August really has not been kind to them as they are hitting .222 with a .570 OPS as a team, led by Murphy at .345 / .853 and Travis d'Arnaud at .231 / .808. After that... well, it's pretty ugly. Feel free to look at your own risk.

The list on the Cubs' side (with last two weeks in parentheses):

• Anthony Rizzo, .888 (.668)
• Chris Coghlan, .835 (1.001)
• Javier Baez, .800 (.800)
• Starlin Castro, .762 (1.002)

Still sitting just outside of the doors is Justin Ruggiano at .748, but Luis Valbuena continues to fade, stuck in a 1-for-29 rut in his last nine games which has dropped his OPS to .728. Arismendy Alcantara also had a rough homestand, going 3-for-24 against the Brewers and Rays to bring his OPS down to .648. Hopefully he'll be able to bounce back over the course of the final 42 games of the season.

GAME PROJECTIONS:

Game 1: Wheeler has been a very tough customer since the end of June. He has recorded eight consecutive quality starts -- seven of which he allowed two runs or less -- and his lowest game score in those eight starts was 54. Wood has been slowly getting better since his five-inning outing against St. Louis on July 25, and his game score of 64 in his last outing against Tampa Bay was the best he's had since the Philadelphia outing on June 15. The Mets do hit lefty starters (.261 average, .715 OPS) better than righties (.232 average, .655 OPS), so Wood will really need to be sharp for the Cubs to have a chance here.

Game 2: Niese has been been struggling since returning from a strained shoulder that put him on the disabled list on July 6. Since his return, he has only had one quality start and only two starts in which he has allowed three runs or less. That quality start did come in his last outing, however, so maybe things are beginning to turn around for him again. As for Straily, the big issue for him this year has been the longball. In his seven starts for Oakland he gave up nine homers in just over 38 innings of work. That's... not good. His time at Iowa was better in that regard, though, only allowing four in 39 innings. Here's hoping that he impresses in his first National League appearance.

Game 3: This will be Montero's second start since returning from Triple-A Las Vegas on August 12. He did have four starts earlier in the season, one of which was very good and three that were not so good. His August 12 outing against the Nationals was forgettable, allowing five runs and seven hits in five innings of work for a game score of 35. Arrieta rebounded nicely from the Colorado debacle on August 6 and has now allowed two runs or less in 13 of his 18 starts this season.

Game 4: It's the battle of age vs. youth, with Colon posting quality starts in five of his last seven appearances while Hendricks rides a five-game quality start streak of his own. Don't expect to see too many Cubs draw a walk in this game; Colon has only allowed 21 walks all year and has not given up more than two in a game since June 2.

RUSS' PREDICTION: 2-2. But I think more important than the result of the series will be how the storylines play out after it's over. Will Straily stick around? What about Jacob Turner? Will this be the beginning of a Wood rebound? And how many starts will Arrieta and Hendricks have before they get shut down, if they get shut down at all?

NEXT STOP: The easy part of the schedule comes to an end and the Cubs spend their final 38 games of the season against divisional opponents and non-divisional teams with winning records. First up on the docket will be the final three games of the year against the San Francisco Giants.

As the under .500 Reds limp towards the end of the 2014 season, their GM will be wrapping up the final year of his current contract.

Baseball and old-timey adages have happily held loving hands like beer and pizza since life was lived in black and white and horn sections dominated every song of the day.  They paraded around American society when Cincinnati had streetcars, they took over television when Cincinnati didn't have streetcars, and they'll still be popping up on mobile devices and smart-watches when your kids' kids ride streetcars through Cincinnati again in the future.

They come in all shapes and sizes, too, from each corner of society, and they've been ingrained in our brains since we were old enough to experience the game of baseball for the first time.

They come in practical form from legends of the sport:

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer. - Ted Williams

Even movie stars have piped in with opinions that have been seared into our baseball memories:

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz. - Humphrey Bogart

There's the nostalgic and prophetic:

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for Derek Jeter to go out and be better than me.  - Rogers Hornsby

The funny:

When they start the game they don't yell, "Work ball."  They say, "Play ball." - Willie Stargell

And, of course, the funnier:

The Cubs. - The Aristocrats

There's one particular adage that has been pitched as the prevailing strategy in all sports for years upon years, however, and it's one that both the game of baseball and the Cincinnati Reds are very familiar with, too:

It's easier to replace the management than it is to replace the players. - Jack Handy

Patience is a virtue in many things, but it's not one often found in the rough and tumble, hyperlucrative world of major American sports.  On a list of the ten most important things on the plate of a team's front office, "Winning" occupies spots one through nine, with number ten being "Have a ton of future winning ready to immediately follow current winning."  It is not a realm rife with long tenures, nor is it one that features a plethora of second chances.

If you get lucky enough to get an opportunity to pull the strings in the exclusive world of Major League Baseball, you generally get one window at a good run at things, and if there's not a banner flying at the end of it, the plug gets pulled.

Walt Jocketty is now 121 games into his 7th season as the General Manager of the Reds - his second such lengthy and successful stint as a GM in the big leagues - and he's in the last year of the 3 year contract extension he signed in September of 2011.  Only his former boss and mentor, Sandy Alderson of the New York Mets, can claim to have more years on his ledger than Jocketty and fellow 63 year old Jack Zduriencik of the Seattle Mariners.  Last night's loss dropped the Reds back under .500 at 60-61, and since the Reds appear to be drifting farther away from a playoff berth with every page torn off your Far Side calendar, many people have turned their focus towards the offseason, the winter, and the dawn of a hopefully healthier 2015 version of the Cincinnati Reds.

Which direction the next few months take begins with whether Jocketty will be around and in charge, though, and that's the single most defining decision for the path of the franchise's future.

Photo Credit:  Mark J. Rebilas, USA Today Sports

Seven years is a long time to have any executive around, and that's given us a lot of insight into how the front office in Cincinnati works.  We know that the ownership group headed by Bob Castellini has known and worked with Jocketty dating back to his successful stint as the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals, and that there's not just a great level of affinity there, there's also a great deal of mutual respect between the two.  We know that Walt has built a World Series winner before, and that he's been captaining the ship for the best run of consistent success the Reds have seen in some 35 years.  We know that Bob hand picked Walt, that Walt hand picked his staff (which features several former big league GMs), and that both hand picked Bryan Price to lead the team on the field.  We know that the Reds have won a pair of division titles and have made some form of the postseason in three of the last four years, and we know that the players projected to be in the dugout are the best, most talented collection the franchise has had in a long, long time.  Heck, we know that most of them were drafted and developed by the franchise itself.

There's also the fact that enough was wrong with the team following the stumble down the 2013 stretch that Dusty Baker was fired as manager along with much of the existing in-dugout staff and coaches.  There are the poor early returns on the massive extensions doled out to Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton, and - to some extent - Homer Bailey.  There's the wealth of young talent burgeoning breathing down the Reds' neck from Chicago, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis that can't be matched by the Cincinnati farm system.

There's writing on the wall as clear as day that says that 2015 is very well the last year the band is all together, and it's that bit that puts Jocketty's lame-duck status the most in the spotlight.

He's operated in the last year of a contract before and similarly played it out in the midst of a disappointing, losing season.  He didn't re-up for his most recent contract until September 23, 2011, at which point the Reds were 5 games under .500 and 16 games out of 1st in the NL Central, far removed from the glory of their first division title in a decade and a half the year before.  He then proceeded to trade the farm for Mat Latos and sign both Votto and Phillips for a collective 16 years and $297.5 million, cementing the fact that the roster he'd created would be around for a window the length of his contract and more.

And that's where the pending decision about the future GM of the organization comes into play.  The lack of moves since the winter prior to the 2013 season has shown that the current iteration of the Reds just hasn't quite been able to get over the hump and into postseason success territory and that there are likely a few rather serious moves that must be made for that to happen.  Coinciding with that is the myriad of players scheduled to be free agents following the 2015 season and the contract and/or trade negotiations whose direction will dictate the path of the franchise far beyond just the next season of play.

There's no way to duck that the GM in charge of the 2014-2015 winter and the moves they make will have a defining impact on the roster as far down the road as 2018, 2019, and 2020.  Whether Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos are traded for an army of AA ballers or both inked for 9 figure contracts, the next Reds era will have etchings from the GM in charge of this upcoming offseason, and that future must be weighed by Castellini and his partners at the top over the next two months.

Ultimately, the fumbling of the 2014 season can be chalked up largely to a cantankerous quad muscle, a winter and spring filled with freak meniscus tears and facial fracture horrors, and the inability of the singular position player acquisition since spring of 2013 to be able to replace them all.  Like it, or not, that all falls on Walt's hands to some degree, but those aren't the kind of fallacies that should define whether he is leading the team beyond September of this year.

In fact, the way 2014 has gone really shouldn't have a whole hell of a lot of impact on the decision to retain him or find someone new at all.  He didn't do a ton to alleviate the 2014 issues, but there's not a ton he could have done to prevent them, either.  And when I wonder why he didn't try harder to save 2014, what keeps hitting me in the brain is that he was trying to protect 2015.  2018.  2020.

I think it's undeniably clear that he was, and that was probably the prudent decision for his future with the franchise.  Whomever is hired to be the GM of the Cincinnati Reds after the 2014 season wraps won't be getting hired for what's happened over the last 7 seasons, anyway; rather, they'll be getting hired to preside over the offseason that will shape the next decade of Reds baseball.  That Walt didn't leverage more of that future for a fix of the 2014 season makes me think he realized that, and it makes me believe that he'll be re-signed in another fiver or so weeks to move the franchise through the huge contract and personnel decisions looming in the next calendar year.

Either way, we'll find out in a month whether Walt was protecting the future for his use, or for his successor's.  There's only the next decade riding on it.

The game threads for Friday's game are all in this StoryStream.

Also, just a reminder to check out (if you haven't already) SB Nation's partner fantasy site, Fan Duel, where you can win real money. Here's the link.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Castillo C, Schierholtz RF, Barney 2B, Samardzija P

Mets lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Castillo C, Schierholtz RF, Barney 2B, Samardzija P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Travis Wood Cubs vs. Zack Wheeler Mets vs. NY -- vs. Cubs

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin' Avenue.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

This odd little four-game road trip begins tonight.

Here's how much has happened since the Cubs last played at Citi Field.

It's not so long in actual time, just 14 months ago. The Cubs' last game there was June 16, 2013, when we saw Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a three-run walkoff homer off Carlos Marmol, who at last report had left a Triple-A assignment in the Reds organization and is out of baseball. Neither of the other two pitchers who threw for the Cubs that day (Matt Garza and James Russell) is still on the team. Four of the eight position players who started for the Cubs that day aren't on the team and one (Alfonso Soriano) was recently released and presumed retired.

One of the Cubs' starting players in tonight's game (Javier Baez) was still playing in the High-A Florida State League on June 16, 2013.

So, there's a good example of how quickly things have changed and been revamped for this team. More to come, soon, I think.

Also, just a reminder to check out (if you haven't already) SB Nation's partner fantasy site, Fan Duel, where you can win real money. Here's the link.

Cubs lineup:

Coghlan LF, Baez 2B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Castillo C, Alcantara CF, Sweeney RF, Valaika 3B, Wood P

Mets lineup:

Granderson RF, Murphy 2B, Wright 3B, Duda 1B, d'Arnaud C, Campbell LF, Lagares CF, Flores SS, Wheeler P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Travis Wood Cubs vs. Zack Wheeler Mets vs. NY -- vs. Cubs

After a horrific stretch of over two months of bad pitching, Travis Wood has been better since the beginning of August -- two quality starts, and his last outing, against the Rays, was quite good. He has faced the Mets once this year -- June 5 at Wrigley Field -- where he threw five shaky innings (five walks), but the Cubs won the game, in part because Wood smacked a two-run homer off Jacob deGrom. A repeat of that would help tonight, I'd say.

Zack Wheeler is having a pretty good year. For whatever the "quality start" is worth, he's got 17 of them in 24 starts. One of those was against the Cubs June 3 at Wrigley Field; he threw 6⅔ shutout innings, but the Cubs won the game against the Mets' bullpen. We'd take a repeat of that tonight, I'd think.

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin' Avenue.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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The Mets won the series opener at Citi Field.

The Mets beat the Cubs this evening, as Zack Wheeler struck out ten and allowed two runs in six-and-two-thirds innings. The Mets didn’t do much against Cubs starter Travis Wood early, but Eric Campbell launched a three-run home run against him in the fourth to turn a two-run deficit into a one-run lead.

The Mets did not score again, but Vic Black, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia combined to keep the Cubs off the board through the rest of the game. It was an impressive night for Mets pitchers, and the lineup did just enough to make the game a victory.

GameThread Roll Call

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

A week after being designated for assignment, the outfielder has been released.

Consider the Chris Young era officially over as of this evening.

Roster note: The Mets have released Chris Young.

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 16, 2014

The move to release Young was hardly a surprise. With Juan Lagares asserting himself as the Mets' center fielder of the future and the team moving toward younger players in left—like Matt den Dekker—along with the veteran's offensive struggles, it was a situation that was bound to happen.

Young was brought aboard last November after signing a one year, $7.25 million contract in hopes that he would return in some form to the player that hit 132 home runs with the Diamondbacks in seven seasons, despite a lackluster 2012 with the Athletics. But he never got it going in Queens. Young hit just .205 with eight home runs and 28 runs batted in through 88 games this season. Over his final nine games with the team, he was just 4-for-27 with one run batted in, which finally led to him being designated for assignment a week ago.

Young is only 30 years old, and there is bound to be a team out there that can make use of his services. Unfortunately for the Mets, he never panned out for them.

You could have turned this one off after the fourth inning and not really missed anything.

It wasn't really just "one" bad pitch that ruined the evening for Travis Wood and the Cubs Friday night in New York.

The one pitch I'm referring to was the one that Mets outfielder Eric Campbell sent into the left-field seats at Citi Field for a three-run homer in the fourth inning, erasing a 2-0 Cubs lead.

But several other pitches in that inning were the ones that got Wood in trouble, the ones that resulted in a pair of walks to David Wright and Lucas Duda leading off the frame. One out later, Campbell's home run gave the Mets a 3-2 advantage, and that wound up being the final score.

I must confess that Campbell had not made much of a dent in my big-league knowledge before Friday night, even though he'd started one of the three games the Mets played in Wrigley Field back in June.

Perhaps before this year, many Mets fans hadn't heard of him either, because he had been toiling for six years in the Mets' farm system after being chosen in the eighth round in 2008 without ever getting so much as a September callup. His minor-league record doesn't show anything really special -- not much power, not much stolen-base speed, nothing out of the ordinary except a pretty good on-base percentage (.380 over 2,609 plate appearances).

He hit a home run in his seventh big-league game against the Dodgers back on May 21, and then went 128 plate appearances without one until his blast off Wood.

As noted above, you could have shut your TV, radio, computer or mobile device off after that and you'd know as much about the score as you do now. The Cubs, who had hit Zack Wheeler pretty well over the first couple of innings, had no hits after the fourth, just four baserunners via walk. Wood himself had drawn a walk and scored the second (and last) Cubs run of the game in the third inning. Instead, they spent a great deal of the rest of the game striking out, 14 more times, which gives them a ghastly total of 141 K's in 14 games this month -- averaging 10 per game, and with a total of 1,063 for the season (8.79 per game) they are on pace for 1,423 for the season. That would demolish the team's single-season record (1,269), set in 2002.

Don't worry. That would still be well short of the major-league record, which is 1,535, set last year by the Astros, and also fewer than the National League record, 1,529, set by the 2010 Diamondbacks.

Javier Baez struck out twice more, though he also singled and made a couple of nice plays in the field. Strikeouts aren't the worst thing in the world; in some ways they can be beneficial, as working a count before striking out makes the opposing pitcher throw more pitches than grounding to second on the first pitch, or hitting into a double play. K's are up across the major leagues in general; two teams (Marlins and Astros) have even more than the Cubs do. Still, it would be nice to see the Cubs make more contact.

Well. I see I've digressed quite far from the original theme of this recap and meandered a bit, kind of like Friday night's game itself. Saturday's should provide some interest, as Dan Straily makes his Cubs debut against the Mets' Jon Niese. Last night it was announced that Junior Lake would be demoted to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Straily; you can continue to discuss that move at this link. Straily's supposed to go back to Iowa following the game. The big question then: who comes back from Iowa to replace him? I can't imagine it'll be a pitcher, as that would leave the Cubs with just three bench players.

As always, we await developments.

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

*All results from games played on Friday, August 15th, 2014.

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51s (72-56)_______________________________________

LAS VEGAS 2, IOWA 0 (Box)

Taking the lead from the parent club, Las Vegas defeated the Iowa Cubs last night thanks to a very strong performance from its starting pitcher. Matthew Bowman twirled his best start since getting promoted to Triple-A. The Princeton product held the baby Cubs scoreless into the eighth inning, fanning seven along the way.

• LF Cesar Puello: 1-4, 2B, BB, K
• SS Matt Reynolds: 1-5, R, 2B
• 3B Josh Satin: 1-4, K
• RF Andrew Brown: 2-4, 2B, RBI, K
• C Taylor Teagarden: 1-2, R, 2 BB
• 1B Kevin Plawecki: 2-4, K
• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, RBI, K
• 2B Daniel Muno: 0-4, 2 K
• 1B Brandon Allen: 1-1, 2B
• RHP Matthew Bowman: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (74-50)___________________________________

BINGHAMTON 8, READING 7 (Box)

The B-Mets and the Fightin Phils slugged it out in Reading, as the two teams combined to hit six homers and 18 base knocks overall. The top of Binghamton's order wielded the heaviest lumber: Brandon Nimmo, Dilson Herrera, and Brian Burgamy all went deep. Rainy Lara took it on the chin for four-plus innings, but a quartet of relievers, led by Chase Huchingson, turned in solid-to-strong appearances to keep the game close enough for the bats to bail out the shaky starter.

• LF Brandon Nimmo: 2-5, R, HR (6), RBI, 2 K, SB
• 2B Dilson Herrera: 1-4, 2 R, HR (8), RBI, BB, 2 K
• 3B Brian Burgamy: 1-4, 2 R, HR (23), 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
• 1B Jayce Boyd: 1-4, R, 2B, BB
• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-5, R, RBI, 2 K
• RF Travis Taijeron: 0-4, BB, 3 K
• C Juan Centeno: 1-3, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 2-3, RBI, BB
• PH Kyle Johnson: 0-1
• PH T.J. Rivera: 0-1
• RHP Rainy Lara: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K, 2 HR
• RHP Hansel Robles: 1.1 IP, ER, 2 BB, K
• LHP Chase Huchingson: 2 IP, H, ER, K, HR
• RHP Cody Satterwhite: 1 IP, H, BB, 3 K, 2 WP

High-A - St. Lucie Mets (28-25 / 68-54)___________________________________

ST. LUCIE 10, BRADENTON 7 (Box)

Domingo Tapia allowed six runs in six innings, but St. Lucie scored five times with two out in the eighth to steal a win away from the Marauders. Cole Frenzel and Jeff McNeil tallied the game-tying and go-ahead hits, respectively. Tapia's line wouldn't have nearly as many crooked numbers hanging from it had he not given up a two-out grand slam to Jose Osuna, as those accounted for the only earned runs credited to his name.

• 3B Jeff McNeil: 2-4, RBI, BB, SB
• CF-LF Maikis De La Cruz: 1-5
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR (4), RBI, HBP
• C Cam Maron: 2-5, R
• SS Gavin Cecchini: 1-4, 2 R, BB, K
• LF Jared King: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K, HBP
• DH Phillip Evans: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• 1B Cole Frenzel: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
• RF Eudy Pina: 1-3, R, BB, K
• RHP Domingo Tapia: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, HR, WP

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (35-20 / 79-42)_____________________________

SAVANNAH 16, GREENVILLE 4 (Box)

The Sand Gnats gave a textbook demonstration of the organization's principle of controlled aggression in Savannah yesterday evening. As a team, the Gnats coaxed eleven walks from Greenville's pitchers and smacked them around for a total of eight extra-base hits. On a less eventful for the system, either Jeff Glenn or Victor Cruzado would have been in the running for Star of the Night. Neither will earn those honors (see below) because that just how buckwild the Mets prospects went yesterday.

• SS Yeixon Ruiz: 2-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI, K
• CF Champ Stuart: 1-6, K
• 1B Matt Oberste: 1-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB
• 3B Neifi Zapata: 0-3, 2 R, 2 BB, HBP
• RF Victor Cruzado: 3-4, 3 R, HR (6), 3 RBI, 2 BB
• DH Jonathan Leroux: 2-5, 2 R, HR (2), 4 RBI, BB, K
• 2B Jorge Rivero: 1-5, 2 R, HR (3), 2 RBI, BB, K
• LF Stefan Sabol: 1-1, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 3 BB
• C Jeff Glenn: 4-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI
• RHP Ricky Knapp: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Short Season-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (33-28)_____________________________

BROOKLYN 7, VERMONT 0 (Box)

Hitters were ascendant in the organization last night, but Marcos Molina was transcendent. The kid really has nothing left to prove in the New York-Penn League. He fanned a full fifty percent of the batters he faced and seven in a row across the second, third, and fourth innings. Molina now leads the league in both strikeouts and ERA.

• CF John Mora: 2-4, BB, 2 K, CS
• SS Amed Rosario: 1-5, K
• LF Michael Conforto: 1-3, 2 R, BB, K, HBP
• 2B Jhoan Urena: 2-5, 2 R, HR (5), RBI, K
• DH Tomas Nido: 3-4, R, 2B, RBI
• RF Michael Bernal: 1-2, RBI, K
• RF Tucker Tharp: 0-2, R, BB
• 1B Pedro Perez: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, K
• C Adrian Abreu: 0-3, BB, K
• 2B Anthony Chavez: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
• RHP Marcos Molina: 7 IP, H, BB, 12 K

Rookie - Kingsport Mets (29-26)_______________________________________

KINGSPORT 11, BRISTOL 9 (Box)

Kingsport won yesterday with our own Jeffery Paternostro in attendance, so definitely check out his Twitter feed for a fuller report of the goings on. In broad strokes, Vincente Lupo had himself a game, drawing five walks and swiping home as part of a double steal with Branden Kaupe. Ivan Wilson also extended his hot streak by homering for the third time in a week. Unfortunately, he also struck out for the 78th and 79th time in just 146 at-bats.

• SS Luis Guillorme: 2-5, R
• DH Jean Rodriguez: 0-1, R, RBI, 3 BB, K
• PH-DH Jose Figuera: 1-1, R
• RF Wuilmer Becerra: 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, 2 K
• 3B Eudor Garcia: 0-5, RBI, K
• LF Vincente Lupo: 0-0, 2 R, 5 BB, SB
• C Luis Ortega: 0-2, R, BB, K
• 1B Zach Mathieu: 2-5, 2 R, 2B, HR (3), 3 RBI, 2 K
• 2B Branden Kaupe: 1-4, R, K
• CF Ivan Wilson: 1-3, 2 R, HR (10), RBI, BB, 2 K
• LHP Blake Taylor: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR

Rookie - Gulf Coast Mets (25-24)_______________________________________

GCL MARLINS 3, GCL METS 0 (Box)

This was the only dud of a game a stateside Mets affiliate played on Friday. Not much else to say about this one.

• CF Raphael Ramirez: 1-4, 2 K, SB
• 2B Milton Ramos: 0-4, K
• RF Enmanuel Zabala: 2-4
• 1B Dash Winningham: 0-4, 2 K
• DH Natanael Ramos: 1-4, 2 K
• SS Alfredo Reyes: 2-3, 2B, SB
• LHP Jose Medina: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K, HR

In Dominican Summer League action, Mets2 kept with the winning trend, while Mets1 was blown away by a score of 19-4.

Star of the Night
Given how many star-worthy performances there were from top to bottom, I'm going to give out two. Pitching honors go to Marcos Molina, while Vincente Lupo deserves something gold and shiny for his stellar offensive output.

Goat of the Night
None. Too many good vibes emanating throughout the system for any goat horns to stick.

Zack Wheeler was very good, and Eric Campbell hit a big home run as the Mets beat the Cubs at Citi Field on Friday night.

The Mets’ series opener against the Cubs on Friday night felt like many of their other games since the All-Star break. Their starting pitcher—the 24-year-old Zack Wheeler in this case—was pitching well, but the team wasn’t doing much of anything at the plate. But the Mets did eventually score just enough runs for the team to come away with a win to break a losing streak that began at the start of their previous series.

In the very early going, Wheeler was dominant. He struck out two in a scoreless first, one of whom was the highly-praise Javier Baez, who will apparently swing at just about anything. After giving up back-to-back singles in the second, he struck out the next three batters he faced.

Wheeler cracked in the third, though, walking opposing pitcher Travis Wood—not your typical light-hitting pitcher but a pitcher nonetheless—to begin the inning. One out later, Javier Baez drilled a single up the middle, and Wood busted it to third base, beating a good throw from center fielder Juan Lagares to get there safely. Baez followed suit and advanced to second on the throw.

With runners on second and third and just one out, Wheeler gave up a very hard-hit ground ball to Anthony Rizzo, who hit it right at Daniel Murphy. The ball was hit so hard that Wood held still off third base for a second, but when Murphy had it bounce off his hands to the ground, he broke for home, and Murphy had no choice but to get the out at first. Starlin Castro followed up with a single, and the Cubs were up 2-0.

Wheeler hit Welington Castillo with a pitch, but he got out of the third without any further damage. For the rest of the six-and-two-thirds innings he pitched, he did not look back. In total, Wheeler struck out ten, walked four, and gave up just four hits on 120 pitches. While he clearly wasn’t perfect, particularly in terms of putting runners on base for free, it was another in a long line of encouraging starts for Wheeler.

Like the Cubs, the Mets only scored in one inning. After going down quietly in the first three innings of the game, they got started in the fourth when David Wright and Lucas Duda drew walks to start the inning. Travis d’Arnaud popped out, but Eric Campbell, starting in left field since the left-handed Wood was on the mound, hit a three-run home run to left-center field. The Mets had a 3-2 lead, and that wound up being the final score of the ballgame.

When Wheeler took the mound for the top of the seventh inning, his pitch count was already high, but he notched two strikeouts before walking Chris Coghlan. That prompted Terry Collins to turn to Vic Black, who struck out Javier Baez to end the frame. Jeurys Familia struck out two Cubs hitters and walked one in a scoreless eighth, and Jenrry Mejia struck out one in a perfect ninth that included a very nice catch by Juan Lagares for the first out.

While he was facing the Cubs, Wheeler was impressive. Clearly not entirely on top of his game at certain points of his start, he worked through the rough patches and turned what could have been a mediocre start into a good one. He now has a 3.49 ERA on the season, over a full run lower than the 4.45 mark he had at the end of his June 25 start against the Oakland Athletics.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Bleed Cubbie Blue GameThreads

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Eric Campbell, +33.2% WPA, Jenrry Mejia, +13.9% WPA, Jeurys Familia, +10.7% WPA
Big losers:Curtis Granderson, -10.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Campbell’s three-run home run in the fourth, +35.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Baez’s single in the third, +10.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +38.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: +11.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Eric Campbell

Lots of interesting, funny, idiotic, and insightful things were said by the Mets—and about them—recently. Here are some of our favorites.

Hernias are the new market inefficiency.

"The doctors have said he can pitch. As long as his arm feels fine, he can pitch. ... R.A. Dickey won a Cy Young with a hernia." —Terry Collins [ESPN]

Great attitude, now we just need performance to back it up.

"I learned very much in the little time I was in MLB. I hope to stay up the rest of my career. I have worked hard to be here. I'm coming off two very good starts. I feel like I'm in my best physical form of the whole year." —Rafael Montero [Twitter]

Please don’t make that change coming out after the fifth.

"That’s starting to get kind of old, coming out after the sixth. I’m going to have to change something up." —Zack Wheeler [ESPN]

Last time we were just messing around with him.

"We brought him up for a purpose this time." —Terry Collins [ESPN]

With Duda hitting so well, reporters are going to have to get used to these kinds of quotes.

"Not really. I really don’t put too much into it. It is what it is." —Lucas Duda regarding Collins testing him against LHP [ESPN]

Can you start promising every pitcher you’re going to save the game.

"Two outs and man on third, I said, 'Oh, God, I promised it to him. I need to save this game. I don’t want Bartolo to get mad. I want to save this game." —Jenrry Mejia [ESPN]

Everyone who watches Bartolo Colon feels the same way.

"I just liked to watch Pedro Martinez. But I never watched Bartolo Colon. But now, I've been with Bartolo Colon and I feel very happy." —Jenrry Mejia [ESPN]

Well deserved.

"I feel really happy to be in that category." —Bartolo Colon on joining fellow countrymen Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez with 200 wins. [ESPN]

No, you can go ahead and say ‘struggling.’

"It’s easy to talk about the shoulda, woulda couldas when you’re struggling. I shouldn’t say struggling -- things aren’t going well. I’m at the point now where my stuff is back. My arm feels great. I’m not very consistent hitting my spots. I’m just having a couple bad innings where I give up two or three runs." —Jon Niese [ESPN]

This does not sound promising.

"No pitcher wants to go out there and pitch with a sore shoulder. You’ve got to figure out a way to make the arm feel better. And I did. But now I just have to figure out how to locate my pitches." —Jon Niese [ESPN]

He’s a Philly, put your hat back on.

"I didn’t want to throw a fastball, because if [Howard] hit my fastball, that was a bad pitch. I had to throw a breaking pitch. He got it. I don’t know how he got it, but he got it, and I take my hat off. Good job." —Jenrry Mejia [New York Post]

John Smoltz helping Mets pitchers, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!

"I’m very proud of Zack. I have to give a little credit to John Smoltz. When we were in Atlanta [June 30 to July 2], we talked to him a little bit. We all had a conversation. [Wheeler] has kind of followed through with it. There are some positive things happening. I do give credit to John for a couple of comments he made to him. Really pumped him up. And he’s been outstanding since." —Dan Warthen [New York Post]

While Thor isn’t ready for the majors…

"I don’t feel like I’m ready quite yet, but if I were to get the call tomorrow, I would find a way to get the job done, somehow." —Noah Syndergaard [New York Daily News]

…he is ready for WFAN.

"It is kind of challenging sometimes, because playing in New York, they have all these expectations. The fan base, they can love you, and then the next start wouldn’t live up to their expectations, and they will shun you for that. So (paying attention to that) is something I’ve tried to stay away from." —Noah Syndergaard [New York Daily News]

We kind of need to beat every team.

"We needed to beat this team." —Carlos Torres on the Nationals [New York Daily News]

I wouldn’t call finally cutting dead weight ‘lucky.’

"I thought the guy who went in did pretty good. Yeah, it’s tough to take (Lagares) out, but the reason we can, the other guy (Nieuwenhuis) is real good. We’re really lucky he is here right now." —Terry Collins [New York Daily News]

Hate to say this but these quotes are starting to mirror Jason Bay quotes.

"I’ve made some mistakes this year, revamping some things with my swing that I probably shouldn’t mess with. Especially after the All-Star break I started trying to change things when I didn’t get the results I wanted. Pretty soon you’re trying something new every at-bat and thinking about all the wrong things." —David Wright [New York Daily News]

Virginian Smack Talk.

"Instead of realizing there are going to be times during the season when you’re going to have a hiccup and you need to ride it out, I was too quick to make adjustments, and you get to the point where you can’t remember what it felt like when you were going good." —David Wright [New York Daily News]

SiteBot FacePalm of the Week

"waited all day for this report. Finally comes at 8:30pm and all it is are box scores. Come on AA you are better then this. The daily farm report is one of the main reasons that real die hard Met fans come to this site. On a night when Montero was brilliant, you needed to provide a little more then this." —fhc1224 (Join date: May 28, 2009. Post Count: 1.)

The Cubs will try to even up their series with the Mets Saturday evening.

Starlin Castro is having a fine comeback year from his down 2013; he made his third All-Star team and entering tonight's game is hitting .286/.335/.429, on pace for career highs in doubles and home runs. He's under contract at a team-friendly rate for five more years with an option for 2020.

Yet, rumors that the Cubs are going to trade him persist. They seem to come up most often when the Cubs play the Mets, since the Mets are looking for a shortstop and have quite a bit of young pitching, which the Cubs are seeking. Mark Gonzales of the Tribune writes:

Many see the Mets as a possible match for the Cubs because of their young starting pitching depth and the Cubs' stock of shortstops, with marquee prospect Addison Russell at Double-A Tennessee after Javier Baez moved to second base from there before his major league promotion 11 days ago.

Mets pro scout Roy Smith watched Castro for four games in late July.

Wow, a pro scout saw four games Castro played and suddenly he's on his way to LaGuardia Airport? Kind of a flimsy case, if you ask me. A scout probably just doing due diligence.

Castro's defense has improved this year and remember that he is still just 24 years old;his best years are probably still ahead. I wouldn't trade him -- nor would I move him off of shortstop.

Here are tonight's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Coghlan LF, Baez 2B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Ruggiano RF, Alcantara CF, Castillo C, Valaika 3B, Straily P

Mets lineup:

Granderson RF, Murphy 2B, Wright 3B, Duda 1B, d'Arnaud C, den Dekker LF, Lagares CF, Flores SS, Niese P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Dan Straily Cubs vs. Jon Niese Mets vs. NY -- vs. Cubs

One game won't make a Cubs career for Dan Straily, but he has had major-league success before, including a postseason start last year. He wasn't good in the big leagues for the A's this year, nor at their Triple-A Sacramento affiliate, but he's made seven decent starts for Iowa (39 innings, 1.282 WHIP, 3.00 ERA). He's going back to Iowa after tonight's game, but he'll be back (possibly, I'd think, for the split doubleheader in St. Louis August 30). He has never faced the Mets nor anyone on their current roster.

Jon Niese is having a good year. He's about as average a pitcher as you can get (102 ERA+ this year, 96 ERA+ for his career). He last faced the Cubs June 15, 2013 at Citi Field; again, those box scores are only useful to see how many Cubs from those games aren't on the team any more. Current Cubs are 13-for-60 (.217) against Niese with one home run (Starlin Castro).

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin' Avenue.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.