Your Monday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
Our Amazins fell to 2-4 for the season yesterday afternoon when they lost to the Reds 2-1. Jon Niese was effective in his 2014 debut, but not as effective as Alfredo Simon and Manny Parra, who allowed just five Mets to reach base during the entire game.
Recaps: Mets official, Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, ESPN New York, Amazin' Avenue
The offense was putrid, but at least the Mets got good performances from Niese and the bullpen.
After the game, it was announced that Bobby Parnell would undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the torn ligament in his right elbow.
Kevin Kernan of the Post advises the Mets to make a decision about first base as soon as possible.
It's too early to panic, but Travis d'Arnaud still isn't hitting.
Around the NL East
The Nationals avoided a sweep at the hands of the Braves by defeating Atlanta 2-1 on Sunday. Taylor Jordan had a fine 2014 debut, and Ian Desmond smashed a home run off of Alex Wood to put Washington on top in the seventh.
More Nationals news: Bryce Harper is off to a frustrating start, Scott Hairston has landed on the disabled list, and Doug Fister is getting closer to entering the rotation.
A.J. Burnett allowed four runs to the Cubs in the first inning, allowing Chicago to cruise to an 8-3 win.
Around the Majors
Is Matt Kemp back? He homered twice in the Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Giants last night. So did Hanley Ramirez.
Mark Trumbo has homered in four straight games for the Diamondbacks. Before you get too excited, he shares the club record with Mark Reynolds.
By picking up a pair of hits versus the Blue Jays, Derek Jeter has passed Paul Molitor and moved into eighth place on MLB's all-time hits list.
Yu Darvish has recorded his first 500 strikeouts in fewer innings than anyone else in MLB history.
Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon is going to have Tommy John surgery. He was on track to reach the majors this season.
Substitute outfielder Darnell McDonald announced that he his retiring from baseball with a fun Instagram video.
Sam Fuld made an amazing diving catch in Oakland's win over the Mariners. In the same game, A's pitcher Sonny Gray made a very odd unassisted putout.
Yesterday at AA
Chris McShane wondered if the Mets should offer Parnell a contract extension.
30 years ago today, Dwight Gooden made his MLB debut for the Mets in Houston.
