Category: Sports News

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo cover another crazy week for the Mets as the September stretch run begins. The guys start with a week of highs and lows, which included exciting performances from young hurlers Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, and uninspiring performances from older hurlers Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga. Connor and Joe also discuss the red-hot Juan Soto, the idea of calling up pitching prospect Brandon Sproat, and also answer Mailbag questions about the rules surrounding September call-ups and the future of second base and center field.

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Red-hot Giants continue cruising even after Willy Adames, Matt Chapman ejections originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants traded for Rafael Devers, one of the first things they did was eliminate the possibility of him playing third base again.

The focus was on learning first base, with the idea that in the offseason, or down the line at some point, the front office would figure out how to handle the Devers-Bryce Eldridge combination. Matt Chapman twice has gone on the IL since Devers joined the Giants, but there never has been any real talk of moving the new slugger back across the diamond. Instead, Casey Schmitt has been the fill in, with others taking grounders just in case. 

The staff figured it would take something completely unexpected to ever see Devers at the position he played for more than 900 games in Boston. On Tuesday, the unexpected arrived. 

Devers’ first-inning homer was followed by fireworks, and after the benches and bullpens cleared and everyone traded the usual round of shoves and shouts, Chapman and Willy Adames got ejected, along with Colorado Rockies starter Kyle Freeland. Without any more realistic options, manager Bob Melvin turned to Devers to play third. 

“He didn’t even have a glove. He used Chapman’s glove,” Melvin told reporters in Denver. “He didn’t even have his third baseman’s glove here and he played well over there.”

Devers looked like, well, someone who had played third base his entire career until this season. More importantly, the scramble drill did nothing to harm the defense or put extra stress on starter Logan Webb. In fact, it might have helped in a way.

Schmitt came off the bench to play second a day after taking a pitch off his elbow and hit a huge homer. Wilmer Flores hit one, too, and Patrick Bailey added an insurance blast when the Rockies crept within one. The Giants won 7-4, shaking hands on the mound for the ninth time in 10 games. 

It was there where everyone gathered in the first inning, and the teams had differing views on why it happened. 

Freeland told reporters at Coors Field that he found it “extremely disrespectful” that Devers watched his two-run blast in the first fly for a couple of extra beats. 

“Standing there watching it, taking your sweet time getting down to first base,” he said. “I’ve been in this league for quite some time — I know he has as well — I just found it extremely disrespectful and felt that I needed to let him know about that.”

Webb, who picked up his 13th win, indicated the Giants were not that surprised that Freeland popped off. 

“I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before with that guy,” he told reporters. “He just kind of runs his mouth a lot of times and Rafi got him good.”

The Devers blast was one of four by the Giants, tying a season-high. They all of a sudden are the hottest team in baseball, and even losing their two most valuable position players couldn’t slow them Tuesday. The win was the type that will be remembered for years to come if there’s a miracle over the final month and they reach the MLB playoffs, although because the New York Mets won earlier in the night, the Giants remained five back in the wild-card race. 

Regardless, they’re playing good, clean baseball — even when forced to play (sort of) out of position. 

“He made a really good decision on the double play — he was thinking about for a moment going home, figured out the speed of the runner and gets the double play,” Melvin said of Devers, his third baseman for the night. “He gets a ball right away [in the bottom of the first] at third base. For a guy that hasn’t played there in a year or whatever it’s been, he stepped up for us, for sure.”

Like the rest of the Giants, Melvin was left smiling. It was one of the more memorable wins of what has been an unexpectedly rocky year, and it got the Giants back above .500. Melvin did have one concern, though. 

Ejections generally come with suspensions, and the Giants have no margin for error right now. They were able to pound the Rockies without Adames and Chapman, but they don’t want to be missing either for a game or two down the stretch, especially against a more competitive opponent. 

“I hope MLB understands,” Melvin said. “Hopefully this isn’t significant for these two guys.”

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Manager Carlos Mendoza hit on several topics facing the Mets ahead of Tuesday night’s game in Detroit against the Tigers.

Jesse Winker shut down

The Mets have shut down DH Jesse Winker from baseball activities, Mendoza announced.

Winker, who has been dealing with a back issue that landed him on the IL in early July, began a rehab assignment with Low-A St. Lucie last week. But that has been cut short.

“He’s back in New York, and he’s shut down from baseball activities. Continues to feel symptoms in the lower back,” the manager said. “He’s scheduled to see a doctor [Wednesday] and we’ll go from there.”

With under four weeks remaining, Mendoza added that they are “probably running out of time” to get the veteran bat back in the lineup before the season’s end.

“We gotta get him right. He plays a game or two, and he continues to feel discomfort. We have to make sure we’re not missing anything,” he said.

This injury has been a big blow for the Mets, who have appeared to be a left-handed bat light off the bench at times. 

“When we signed him, the role for him was to have that left-handed bat as a DH, occasionally in the outfield, and the pinch-hitting off the bench,” Mendoza said. “We miss that bat. Jared Young has gotten some opportunities; he’s back here on the roster. Guys will continue to step up and get opportunities. 

“At this point, it sucks for Wink, but we gotta get him right. We have to keep going here.”

Winker played just two games in July after he missed two months with an oblique strain before the back injury landed him on the shelf. He has played just 26 games this season, with 16 hits in 70 at-bats (.229) with five doubles, two triples, and a home run for a .709 OPS.

(Young was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier on Tuesday after outfielder Tyrone Taylor was placed on the IL with a left hamstring strain.)

Rotation remains in flux

The Mets' rotation remains in flux, with Nolan McLean getting the ball on Tuesday and Clay Holmes in Wednesday’s series finale against the Tiges. But after that? The Mets are still having discussions about what to do, Mendoza said.

“Gotta get through this series first, off day on Thursday, ” the skipper said, adding that it could be David Peterson to get the start on Friday’s series opener in Cincinnati, and there is “a good chance” Jonah Tong starts on Saturday. “That’s what we got so far.”

Amid the recent struggles from Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga and whether they will remain in the rotation, Mendoza said, “They are until they’re not.”

“We haven't made any decisions yet, we’re still having discussions,” he continued. “We’re going to be flexible and we gonna take advantage of off days and continue to have discussions. But as of right now, we haven’t made any decisions yet.”

Jose Siri needs more game time

Despite Taylor landing on the IL, Mendoza said that doesn’t mean Jose Siri will be rushed during his rehab assignment from a broken bone in his leg sustained in early April.

“He’s gotta continue to play, we gotta continue to build him up and build up volume and get him used to playing back-to-back and full games and things like that,” the skipper said. “He’s gotta go through the progression and then we have a decision there.”

Siri appeared in three games with St. Lucie, collecting three hits in six at-bats, before he made the jump to Triple-A, where he is in the lineup as the DH on Tuesday night.

Cody Bellinger was a huge force behind the Yankees’ recent seven-game winning streak, and on Tuesday, he was named American League Player of the Week.

In seven games from Aug. 25-31, Bellinger hit .444 (12-of-17) with a .778 slugging percentage, hitting two home runs, three doubles, and walking four times while driving in eight and scoring six runs.

Bellinger led all AL batters with 21 total bases and was tied for the league lead with eight RBI.

The versatile Bellinger has been a key piece of the Yankees lineup during his first season in the Bronx. In 127 games, the lefty has slashed .279/.333/.504 with 26 home runs, 83 RBI, and 75 runs scored, providing some serious protection while often hitting behind Aaron Judge in the lineup.

The Yankees, 2.5 games back of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East and percentage points ahead of the Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot, begin a crucial 12-game stretch on Monday that includes series against Houston, Toronto, Detroit, and Boston.

What we learned as Giants' home run streak continues in fiery win over Rockies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants lost the left side of their infield a few minutes into Tuesday night’s game. Even that couldn’t slow their surprising late-season charge. 

Willy Adames and Matt Chapman got ejected after the benches cleared in the first, but the infield still played a clean defensive game and Logan Webb was backed with four homers. The 7-4 win was the ninth in 10 games and allowed the Giants to keep pace with the New York Mets, who maintained their five-game lead in the wild-card race. 

Both veterans were ejected shortly after Rafael Devers got the Giants on the board with a two-run blast in the first inning. Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland took exception to how long Devers watched the ball fly, and the two started jawing. Benches cleared and Freeland, Chapman and Adames all were sent back to the clubhouses.

While the Rockies lost their starting pitcher, the Giants got hit just as hard. But it didn’t matter. 

Casey Schmitt, one of the players to come off the bench, hit a homer and Wilmer Flores followed with his own. When the Rockies cut it to one late, Patrick Bailey responded with a two-run homer, giving the Giants their second four-homer game of the season. Both have come in the last week, which tells you what kind of heater they’re on right now. 

Player of the Week, Again? 

It got kind of lost in the chaos, but the homer was the 30th of the year for Devers and his 15th in 67 games with the Giants. This is Devers’ fourth 30-homer season in the big leagues, although he didn’t end the organization’s drought, which goes back to 2004. A big part of the lack of 30-homer hitters has been the ballpark, and Devers only has played about half his season in orange and black. 

Earlier Tuesday, Devers was named the co-Player of the Week in the National League, joining Kyle Schwarber, who had a four-homer game last week. His homer Tuesday was his fifth in the last seven games. 

The first-inning homer also gave the Giants at least one blast in 16 consecutive games, tying their SF-era record.

The Replacements

Schmitt had a sore elbow and initially was out of Tuesday’s lineup, but he ended up taking the field as part of an alignment the Giants never could have imagined using. With Chapman gone, they moved Devers from first to third. Dominic Smith took his spot at first, and Schmitt entered at second, pushing Christian Koss to short in place of Adames. 

Really, none of it should have been strange. Devers started more than 900 games at third in Boston and Koss is a natural shortstop, but Devers hasn’t taken grounders at third all year for either of his 2025 teams, and Koss rarely gets reps at short because Adames plays every day. 

Naturally, both got grounders in the bottom of the first, and both handled them cleanly. It was an uneventful night defensively, and the Rockies, perhaps showing why they’re in last place by a wide margin, didn’t even try to bunt on Devers and test him.

The Giants ended up okay on the offensive end, too. Schmitt’s 10th homer of the year ignited a three-run rally in the fifth that gave Webb a cushion.

Unusual Night

Webb is well on his way to once again leading the league in innings pitched, but he had to dig deep to even qualify for the win. He was at 82 pitches through four innings, and the Rockies opened their half of the fifth with back-to-back singles. Webb gave up a run in the frame, but got out of it with a double play. 

Webb struck out seven, getting to 194 on the season. He’s potentially one start away from reaching 200 strikeouts for the first time, which was one of his goals this year. He also moved back atop the MLB innings leaderboard, getting 1/3 of an inning ahead of Boston’s Garrett Crochet. 

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