Your Friday morning dose of Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
Justin Upton hit a pair of home runs off of Jenrry Mejia, but the Mets persevered against the Braves last night. Eric Young Jr. stole three bases, Daniel Murphy drove him in three times, and the New York bullpen was nearly flawless in the 6-4 Mets win.
Recap parade: Amazin' Avenue, Official MLB, New York Times, Newsday, New York Post, Daily News, The Star-Ledger, ESPN New York
Before the game, Terry Collins told reporters that even though Ike Davis was in the starting lineup at first base, Lucas Duda is still the team's regular first baseman. For what it's worth, Davis went 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout on Thursday night. Josh Satin is supposed to be in the mix this weekend as well with the Angels sending two lefties to the hill.
In an excerpt from his new book, A.J. Mass tells a funny yet scary story of that time the secret service made it clear to Mr. Met that it was willing to take him out.
The Mets' South Atlantic League affiliate, the Sand Gnats, may move to Columbia, South Carolina next season if the city of Savannah doesn't at least upgrade the team's stadium.
Toby Hyde has the story of former Mets farmhand Valentino Pascucci becoming the Sand Gnats' hitting coach.
Around the NL East
Stephen Strasburg was nasty last night, striking out 12 Marlins hitters in 6.2 innings to lead the Nats to a 7-1 win.
Ryan Zimmerman's shoulder issues may force a move to first base later in his career. For now, he's changed up his throwing motion.
Freddie Freeman was reportedly feeling pretty good about himself at the plate after Wednesday's game. He didn't slow down very much on Thursday with a pair of hits and an RBI.
Not feeling as good is Andrelton Simmons, who missed last night's game with a minor wrist injury. Hopefully the defensive wizard can avoid a stint on the disabled list.
Meanwhile, the Phillies are very close to getting Freddy Galvis and Mike Adams back from injuries. Legendary slugger Mike Schmidt thinks that force fields should be used to call balls and strikes.
Around the Majors
Michael Pineda caused a stir during last night's Yankees vs. Red Sox game when he was caught pitching with a foreign substance on his hand. Some say it was pine tar, Pineda says it was dirt, and the Red Sox say it was no big deal. The Yankees won 4-1 behind Pineda's six solid innings of work.
It's already awesome that Cleveland's Danny Salazar struck out 10 White Sox hitters in just 3.2 innings, but what made his Thursday night outing historic was that he only pitched 3.2 innings.
A Baseball America report tells us that international scouting may be getting out of hand when it comes to the ages of the players being scouted.
The Brewers made their own music video to Pharrell's "Happy" that will make you want to dance with a bratwurst.
Grant Brisbee reviews the new R.B.I. Baseball video game.
Yesterday at AA
Chris McShane broke down Jenrry Mejia's first start of the regular season with GIFs galore.
On this date in 1962, the Mets played their first ever National League game.