Arseny Gritsyuk signed with the New Jersey Devils at the end of last season and is expected to make his NHL debut this fall. However, in a recent interview with Russian outlet Sports-Express, the 24-year-old forward clarified the timeline of his move and his expectations.
Gritsyuk has spent the last two seasons with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), where he posted impressive numbers. In 2023–24, he recorded 38 points in 50 games. Last season, he improved to 44 points in 49 games.
SKA announced on social media that both Gritsyuk and teammate Zakhar Bardakov would be leaving the club to head to North America.
Both Zakhar Bardakov and Arseniy Gritsyuk are leaving SKA.
The pair will continue their respective careers in North America.
In his interview with Sports-Express, Gritsyuk revealed this move was always part of the plan:
"We had it set: two years with SKA, then off to the NHL," he said.
Off the ice, Gritsyuk has also been preparing for the transition, particularly when it comes to the language barrier.
"I took lessons twice weekly before, but I've slacked off lately," he admitted. "Basic talk is fine: I know lots of words. Those small connecting words give me trouble, though."
Gritsyuk officially signed his entry-level contract with the Devils on May 7, 2025.
Grits are now a New Jersey delicacy. We don’t make the rules.
The following day, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald addressed the media:“He’s going to get an opportunity to show what he can do… He’s highly skilled. He’s going to get an opportunity to play for our team.”
Fitzgerald on Arseniy Gritsyuk: “He’s going to get an opportunity to show what he can do…He’s highly skilled. He’s going to get an opportunity to play for our team.”
Gritsyuk is expected to compete for a roster spot in training camp. But if he doesn't make the NHL lineup, he made it clear he has a backup plan—and potentially a deadline for how long he’d stay in North America without securing an NHL role.
That might sound concerning, but it’s important context: a demotion to the AHL’s Utica Comets would come with a steep pay cut under his entry-level deal. Still, Gritsyuk is motivated to make the leap this fall and fulfill the NHL dream he’s been building toward for years.
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Prokhorov, 18, was drafted in the second round (No. 45) of the 2025 NHL Draft and was in attendance for development camp, where he was a standout, especially in the Blue & White Scrimmage.
The 6'5, 209-lb right-winger's PTO with Dynamo lasts until Aug. 29, before the club has to make a decision.
Prokhorov has played the last two seasons for St. Petersburg Dynamo Jr, in the MHL, a third-tier league in Russia, two behind the KHL. Making the KHL will be a challenge, as he'd have to jump two leagues to secure a spot.
In 2024-25, Prokhorov recorded 27 points (20 goals, seven assists) in 43 games.
If Prokhorov does not make the KHL squad, he does have options.
He can return to the MHL for a third season, as the age cut-off is 20. He could play for a VHL team, which is like the AHL version of the KHL, signing a two-way deal with a KHL squad.
But Prohkorov can also decide to come to North America, since he was selected 42nd overall in the CHL Import Draft by the Sarnia Sting.
Islanders prospect Jesse Nurmi elected to come over to North America for the 2024-25 season, playing for the London Knights in an effort to get acclimated to the game on this side of the pond and the way of life. He did win the Memorial Cup.
Prokhorov's goal is to make Dynamo Moscow, and if he does, that will be huge for his development to become a potential NHL player for the Islanders in the near future.
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The game between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves began late Saturday night after a two-hour rain delay. But after getting to the bottom of the first inning, more weather hit and the game was postponed to Sunday afternoon.
The scenes on Saturday night were one-of-a-kind, with the massive Bristol Motor Speedway housing nearly 100,000 fans for the NASCAR track’s first-ever baseball game.
With the Braves wrapping up a 4-2 win over the Reds, here’s a look at all the unique aspects to the Speedway Classic:
NASCAR-themed uniforms
Both the Reds and Braves had unique uniforms for the game in Bristol. That included special hats and batting helmets and different number fonts on their jerseys.
Here are the NASCAR-themed uniforms for Bristol:
Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Ke’Bryan Hayes of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after hitting a single during the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic presented by BulidSubmarines.com between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images
A detail shot of the Speedway Classic patches worn by Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves during the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic presented by BulidSubmarines.com between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
A detail shot of the helmet worn by Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves during the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic presented by BulidSubmarines.com between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
‘Talladega Nights’ equipment
Some of the players took the opportunity to lean into the NASCAR theme, even more than just the uniforms.
Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson wore a “Talladega Nights” chest protector and face mask, channeling his inner Ricky Bobby from the 2006 Will Ferrell film.
Braves shortstop Nick Allen followed the same theme with his cleats, where he wrote a few classic lines from the movie — calling himself “Nicky Bobby.”
Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds looks on from the dugout prior to the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic presented by BulidSubmarines.com between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
When the game resumed on Sunday, Braves right fielder Eli White quickly put his team back in front with a 3-run home run in the second inning.
With White’s blast out of the field and onto the race track, there was the debut of another new Speedway Classic feature — the home run car. A custom-designed Corvette motored around the half-mile track with a “Home run” flag as White rounded the bases. White added a solo shot in the seventh inning to send the car around again.
If the Montreal Canadiens struggled against the Boston Bruins last season, the same cannot be said about the Buffalo Sabres. The Habs faced the Sabres four times last season and swept the season series with three regulation wins and an overtime one. In the four games, Montreal outscored Buffalo 21-11.
The Initial game between the two teams was an entertaining one. Twice, the Canadiens took the lead, but the Sabres pushed back before taking the lead in the second frame. Captain Nick Suzuki took matters into his own hands and scored a pair of goals to tie the game back before giving the Habs the lead once again. Buffalo came out strong in the third, scoring two quick goals to take a 5-4 lead, but Montreal rallied, scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes to win 7-5. This was an important game for the young Canadiens, one in which they learned it wasn’t over until the final buzzer and they had the talent to fight blow for blow on the scoreboard.
The Canadiens' most dominating performance against their divisional rival came in the second meeting of the season when they scored a 6-1 win on the back of Patrik Laine’s hat trick, with the three goals coming on the power play. While Buffalo’s lack of discipline was costly, since the Habs scored three goals on six opportunities, the Habs' discipline wasn’t much better since they served five penalties, but their penalty kill was flawless.
March saw the two teams battle it out in a home-and-away series, and the Canadiens won both matches, even though they needed overtime to seal the deal in the final meeting of the season. Mike Matheson scored the overtime winner just 1:21 into the extra frame.
The Sabres have undergone significant changes since those four wins; however, the question remains whether these changes were for the better. It’s hard to give a positive answer to that question. Two of their best scorers against the Canadiens, Dylan Cozens (4 points) and J.J. Peterka (5 points), have been traded away.
Cozens was traded to the Ottawa Senators in return for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. The latter signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent this offseason. Meanwhile, Peterka was sent to the Utah Mammoth for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring. Doan is a former second-round pick with NHL bloodlines, but he remains an unproven commodity in the NHL, having played only 62 games and accumulated 28 points. As for Norris, he is a solid addition who has 239 NHL games and 158 points to his name.
Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 years, and it appears to be tough for them to retain their biggest names. They did manage to sign Bowen Byran to a two-year deal and Ryan McLeod to a four-year pact and did bring in veteran netminder Alex Lyon, but that won’t be enough to turn the team’s fortune around.
Unless Kevyn Adams and co. make other moves, it will be another tough season in the state of New York for Sabres fans. If Devon Levi lives up to his potential and has a breakout year, the Sabres may show some signs of progress, but otherwise, we could be in for more of the same from the Sabres. As things stand, they shouldn’t even be part of the playoff race conversation, and, on paper at least, the much-improved Canadiens should dominate the match-up this upcoming season.
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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Dan Ardell won a College World Series with USC as a sophomore in 1961 before accepting a $37,500 bonus to sign with the Angels, who called him up a couple of months later. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The second in an occasional series of profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.
The expansion Los Angeles Angels were just 5 months old in September 1961 when the team called up three minor leaguers who would come to define the fledgling franchise’s early years.
Jim Fregosi, a teenage shortstop, would go on to make six All-Star teams and win a Gold Glove. Right-hander Dean Chance, who turned 20 that summer, would win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards and lead the American League in wins, ERA, shutouts and innings pitched. And Buck Rodgers would catch for nine big league seasons before managing at the minor and major league level for the Angels.
But only Dan Ardell, a light-hitting first baseman who was called up with them, would do something that had never been done before on Sept. 20 against the Detroit Tigers. In his first big league plate appearance, Ardell blooped a single to right field, only to see pinch-runner Ken McBride get caught rounding second base to end the game.
“I'm the only one to only get one hit. And the one hit was a walk-off loss,” he said. “Not easy to do.”
There were few witnesses since many in the crowd of 3,116 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium had left long before the ninth inning. Ardell would appear in six more games, four as a pinch-runner, and make six more plate appearances without a hit, striking out twice, walking once and dropping down a sacrifice bunt to finish with a .250 lifetime batting average.
It wasn’t good enough to get him a plaque in the Hall of Fame but you can still find him listed there, alongside the other 20,964 men who have played in the majors.
“It’s a very low number,” Ardell said, acknowledging the accomplishment. “Very low.”
Yet more than six decades later, Ardell looks back on his month with the Angels with neither delight nor disappointment. He has gone on to live a rich life, one that has included well-paying jobs in banking and asset management, a 41-year marriage that produced four children and six grandchildren, and absolutely no regrets about a baseball career that was so short it’s remembered mostly for a teammate’s base-running blunder.
Jim Fregosi during a game in Anaheim in 1965.
Transcendental Graphics / Getty ImagesDean Chance won a Cy Young Award with the Angels.
Associated PressRich Rollins of the Minnesota Twins swings and misses as Angels catcher Buck Rodgers catches the pitch in a 1962 game. All three players were called up to the Angels in September 1961 along with Dan Ardell, whose career only lasted seven games.
Hy Peskin Archive / Getty Images
“I never had a desire to be a major league ballplayer,” said Ardell, a retired real estate executive who made $1,250 for his big league cameo. “I loved playing baseball, but once I started playing professionally, I was bored. I was disinterested.”
In fact, the bookish Ardell probably never should have been there at all. But after winning the College World Series as a sophomore at USC, he accepted a $37,500 bonus to leave school five semesters short of a degree to sign with the Angels.
Still, he hedged his bets just the same.
“They wanted to give me $35,000 and I said I need $37,500 because that would give me the $500 a semester [tuition] at 'SC that I needed,” Ardell said.
The newly born Angels had just two minor league teams, so Ardell was sent to the Dodgers’ Class D farm club in Artesia, N.M. His manager was Spider Jorgensen, whose big league debut in 1947 had been somewhat overshadowed by teammate Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line that day. Since Jorgensen’s equipment never made it to the ballpark, he played third base that day using an infielder’s glove he borrowed from Robinson.
The team Jorgensen managed went 48-78 and finished last, 29½ games out of first in the Sophomore League — so bad that Sports Illustrated came to New Mexico to document its mediocrity. Ardell finished that first season with more strikeouts (32) than hits (30) in 125 at-bats, but he was big, left-handed and played first base — three attributes that were enough to get him a trial with an Angels team that entered September 30 games behind the league-leading Yankees.
“I basically played second string at ‘SC,” Ardell said. “So I go from second string to Class D ball — which wasn’t as good as our ‘SC team — to the big leagues all within 60 days. At age 20, it was an incredible roller coaster.”
It was a ride he quickly tired off. He didn’t drink and he was about to get married, so the frat house atmosphere of a professional baseball team wasn’t one he partook of. After three more minor league seasons, he retired at 23.
“I learned a lot about myself,” he said of those three mostly unhappy summers.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It was that he didn’t want to do it. Being a big league ballplayer may have been some kids’ dream, but it wasn’t his.
“I got no satisfaction out of it. And I was bored,” he said. “It just wasn’t that interesting to me once I had to make my living doing it.
“If you don’t love what you’re doing, if you don’t appreciate and like what you’re doing, it becomes hard work.”
At 84, Ardell has an easy smile and a quick, self-deprecating wit he employs often. He’s still at his playing weight of 190 pounds, but he says he’s lost 2 inches off a frame that once rose to 6-foot-2. And he no longer moves with the speed or grace that allowed him to steal seven bases in his first minor league season.
There is no memorabilia, no remnants of his short-lived career in his hillside home in Laguna Beach’s Bluebird Canyon, about a half-mile from the Pacific Ocean. He gave his gloves away during a garage sale shortly after he quit playing and a grandson took down the few pictures he had hung on the wall.
After retiring with a .252 average and 45 home runs in 389 minor league games, Ardell went back to college, then studied real estate, working for Union Bank and Wells Fargo. He eventually started a real estate asset management company with his twin brother Dave, an equally talented baseball player who played at UCLA, where he was the team captain.
After retiring with a .252 average and 45 home runs in 389 minor league games, Dan Ardell returned to school at USC, then studied real estate, working for Union Bank and Wells Fargo. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
That anyone remembers he played at all is both flattering and befuddling for Ardell, who receives about a dozen autograph requests in the mail each year.
“I mean, how do they even know my address?” he asked.
Still, he answers every letter. Some fans send old photos or baseball cards that are necessarily homemade since Ardell never got a Topps bubblegum card of his own.
“In those days anybody who signed a bonus, Topps would sign,” he said. “So they came to Artesia, where I was playing, and said ‘we want to give you a Topps card. And we’ll pay you five bucks’.
“I said, ‘I think I need 10.’ So I’m the only only major leaguer who never had a Topps card.”
Which isn’t to say Ardell has no mementos from his career. A fastball he didn’t see on a poorly lit field in San José slipped under the bill of his batting helmet and struck him flush in the head one night.
“I woke up the next day. You could see the seam where the baseball hit. I still have a dent,” he said with a chuckle, pointing to a spot in the center of his forehead.
It wasn’t until three decades after he walked away from the game that Ardell came to appreciate what he had accomplished — and only then after marrying Jean Hastings, who would shortly become a nationally recognized baseball academic and writer.
Ardell and Hastings — a Brooklyn native who had always been a baseball fanatic — were living in the same Orange County neighborhood when a mutual friend suggested they go out on a date.
“She had just read ‘Ball Four,’” Ardell said, referencing Jim Bouton’s book about the raunchy, less-seemly side of baseball. “So she said no, baseball players are to look at, they’re not to touch.”
Dan Ardell says he receives about a dozen autograph requests in the mail each year, with some fans sending old photos or homemade baseball cards since Ardell never got a Topps card of his own. "I mean, how do they even know my address?" he said. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
She went on the date anyway, then married Ardell a couple of years later in 1981. Jean, 79, died in 2022 after a short, ferocious battle with leukemia, but in the more than 40 years she spent with Ardell, she slowly rekindled his love for a game he had all but forgotten.
They went to conferences and symposiums, where Jean spoke on the magic and the poetry of baseball. They visited the Hall of Fame, traveled to Arizona for spring training and attended countless Angels games, watching on TV the ones they couldn’t attend in person.
“It was definitely part of her,” grandson Garrett Tyler said.
Jean not only helped Ardell put his baseball career into perspective, she helped put his life in perspective. Shortly after they married, “I decided to have a mission statement,” Ardell said. “And my mission statement was to make a difference in the lives of others.”
“Ten years later,” he added “I changed it to make a positive difference.”
He saw that desire at work in Jean, a political liberal who, in addition to her baseball writing, also worked with a nonprofit called Braver Angels that seeks to bridge the political divide by bringing Democrats and Republicans together. It was a philosophy she lived by marrying Ardell, a lifelong Republican who cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater but later drove a car sporting a “Republicans for Obama” bumper sticker.
Ardell was already working with Opportunity International, a global nonprofit that alleviates generational poverty by microfinancing community projects both in Southern California and abroad. But now the bridge that he and Jean built became apparent through the difference being made — not only in those affected communities, but in his own soul as well.
Tyler said he grew up playing catch with his grandfather, who attended all his Little League games. But it was his grandmother who told him about Ardell’s professional career.
“He was always a little bit reluctant to talk about it. My grandma was the one that kind of opened him up,” said Tyler, 25, who followed his grandparents into baseball, where he works as manager of concessions for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the double A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I’ve talked to him a lot about that. He told me that he just didn’t have the confidence. He knew that he was good, but I don’t think he really understood it. I don’t know if he necessarily misses it or feels like he missed out. I think he was more appreciative of the journey that it took him on and how he’s evolved into a different love for baseball.”
As he has grown older, Tyler said that’s the part of his grandfather’s journey that has stuck with him; the mission statement part that says it’s not about the destination or the accomplishments, but about the influence you have on those you meet along the way.
In that way, he said, Ardell’s short career is now having an outsized influence.
Tyler mentions a friend who is basically playing for free, stranded below the longest rung of the minor league ladder. But he still puts on a uniform every day.
“He plays for the love of the game and just because it’s all he knows,” Tyler said. “One of the things that Dan asks me that I ask my friend is, ‘do you like what you’re doing?’ And at that point it’s not about your career longevity or how much money you’re making.
“As long as you’re happy playing and you’re making ends meet, then go for it.”
Ardell wasn’t happy playing, so he walked away. Three decades later with the love and support of a wife who saw baseball not as a sport but as a metaphor for life, as a game where the goal is to get home safely, Ardell began to understand the magic, too.
His one month in the majors led him to a career prosperous enough that he could help others, one that still fills his mailbox with letters from fans and one that has given him the wisdom to counsel other 23-year-olds to keep putting on the uniform as long as it fits.
Make a positive difference in the lives of others.
“It was a very inconsequential part of my life that was very consequential to other people,” Ardell said of his one month in the majors.
Making his way back from a right shoulder impingement sustained in late June, Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn was on the mound on Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse in another rehab start.
Blackburn's outing went well and he now has put together a string of strong starts as he hopes to get another crack at either joining New York's rotation or bullpen.
Facing the Buffalo Bisons, the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, the right-hander went 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three. He threw 93 pitches/52 strikes -- the most in a start during this rehab stint -- and has a 2.45 ERA across seven starts for Syracuse which includes his first rehab assignment earlier this season when he was coming back from right knee inflammation.
In 11 rehab starts across all levels of the minors, Blackburn is 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA (1.11 WHIP).
However, his numbers in the majors this year haven't been as pretty.
After returning in June from a 10-month hiatus that included multiple injuries and various setbacks, Blackburn struggled in the swing-man role. In six games (four starts), the 31-year-old went 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA (1.98 WHIP).
With New York's starting rotation healthy and its bullpen fortified, Blackburn's role on the club is unclear. He was traded to the Mets at last season's trade deadline and has appeared in 11 games (nine starts) for New York with little success.
For his career, Blackburn is 22-31 with a 4.97 ERA.
BOSTON — Houston Astros reliever Héctor Neris used a balk to advance a runner to third on Saturday, then had an exchange with Red Sox third base coach Kyle Hudson that led to a dustup between the teams.
Neris surrendered Trevor Story's two-out RBI double in the seventh inning of Houston's 7-3 loss. The right-hander then balked, moving Story to third, before Carlos Narváez bounced to shortstop for the final out.
As Neris made his way off the mound, he had words with Hudson and yelled toward the Red Sox dugout, causing both teams, including bullpens, to come on the field before order was quickly restored.
Asked if he felt the Red Sox were stealing signs, Neris responded: “Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no."
“But I still wanted to concentrate," the 36-year-old right-hander continued. "In (that) situation, I want to do what I’m feeling in the moment. That is the reason why I moved him to third.”
Neris declined to specify what he said to Hudson that caused the benches to empty.
“Nothing. It’s part of the game,’’ he said with a grin. “Something funny. People come into (the clubhouse) maybe to hear what happened, but nothing serious.”
Astros manager Joe Espada, speaking to the media before Neris, had no insight into what caused the confrontation.
“I’m actually going to ask Neris," he said. "I really don’t know what words were exchanged to be honest with you.”
Asked what caused the benches to clear and if sign-stealing was the issue, Red Sox manager Alex Cora directed the questions to Neris.
Pitching calls in the major leagues are relayed electronically through PitchCom, but a baserunner on second can determine what pitch is coming by looking for a pitcher’s grip. A runner on second also can relay where a catcher is setting up to help a batter with pitch location.
The Astros were disciplined by Major League Baseball after it found the team used electronics to steal signs during their run to the 2017 World Series title and again in the 2018 season.
Cora was the bench coach for Houston in 2017. In the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, he departed Boston in January 2020 in what was called a mutual decision. After serving a one-season suspension handed down by MLB, he was rehired as Red Sox manager in November 2020.
Defending champ wins 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in round of 16 at National Bank Open
Australian faces top seed Alexander Zverev in last eight in Toronto
Defending champion Alexei Popyrin rallied from a set down to beat world No 9 Holger Rune 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals.
The Australian will put his growing reputation as one of the biggest giant-killers on the tour to the test when he faces Alexander Zverev in the last eight, after the top seed benefited from Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo withdrawal while the German was leading 6-4, 1-0.
Rico Garcia has pitched well in two different stints with the Mets this season, but it appears he is being cut loose again for a fresh bullpen arm.
Garcia is being designated for assignment following Saturday's win over the Giants, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
The right-hander was in cleanup duty as he worked the ninth inning of Saturday's victory and he gave up a meaningless two-out, two-run homer to shortstop Willy Adames.
Prior to that, he had allowed just one earned run and three hits across four strong appearances since making his return to the organization.
Overall, Garcia has pitched to a 2.13 ERA and 0.71 WHIP as a Met.
The last time he was DFA'd he ended up being scooped up relatively quickly by the Yankees, but he was let go after one bad outing and returned to the Mets.
With New York parting ways again, they open up a spot on the 40-man and active roster.
We got our first real look at the Mets’ retooled bullpen.
Kodai Senga labored for the third consecutive outing since returning from the IL, and was only able to get through four innings of work on Saturday against the Giants.
“With the way he was throwing, I was going to be aggressive as long as I had the guys available,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It was just one of those days where he just didn’t have it.”
So after the offense finally pieced together a rally to strike twice and regain the lead in the bottom of the fourth, the skipper decided to turn things over to Reed Garrett in place of the struggling Senga in the fifth.
Garett put together a clean frame and then retired the first batter in the sixth, before handing things over to Gregory Soto who took care of business by striking out back-to-back hitters to end the inning.
Tyler Rogers then came on and pieced together a clean frame in his first appearance as a Met.
After the offense tacked on to put this one away for good, Brooks Raley threw a scoreless eighth and then Rico Garcia allowed a two-run homer as he put the finishing touches on the victory in the ninth.
Combined, they allowed just those two runs on five hits in as many innings.
And with the offense opening up the commanding lead in the late innings, both Ryan Helsley and Edwin Diaz were able sit down and get a full day of rest, so they should be fresh heading into Sunday’s series finale.
“For Kodai to not have his greatest stuff today and our bullpen to be able to pick him up, it’s just huge,” Brandon Nimmo said. “It’s a testament to the contributions and the additions we made I’m so happy to have these guys, we have a really deep bullpen that’s scary now.”
“The potential for those guys, sky’s the limit for them,” Pete Alonso added. “Everyone’s got nasty stuff down there, it’s tough at-bats from everybody -- I’d hate to be the other team’s hitters in the box. It’s exciting.”
In a collective slump for most of July, the Mets' big hitters at the top of the lineup finally broke out in a big way on Saturday to help New York even the series against the San Francisco Giants heading into Sunday's series finale.
Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso -- dubbed the Mets' "Fab Four" this season -- had nine of the team's 13 hits while Nimmo, Lindor and Alonso drove in 10 runs in a 12-6 win.
Alonso's three-run bomb (after Nimmo was hit by a pitch and Lindor walked) started things off in the first inning. In the fourth inning, the top of the lineup came through once more with Nimmo and Lindor driving in runs to re-take the lead after the Giants had gone up in the top half of the inning. That same duo atop the order was at it again in the sixth, driving in runs on back-to-back singles to extend the lead.
For an encore, Nimmo and Lindor tacked on three more in the eighth after Nimmo hit his third single of the game and Lindor smacked a double to the gap in right center. They're both now tied for second on the team (alongside Soto) with 63 RBI while Alonso leads the pack at 86 driven in.
"It’s always good to see those guys performing and having good at-bats, getting results, driving the ball, getting big hits, taking walks," said manager Carlos Mendoza. "We haven’t seen that in a while. But we know they’re too good of players and too good of hitters."
And while the contributions made by the middle and bottom of the order during the "Fab Four's" slump were helpful and did not go unnoticed, the Mets know that if they want to go far into the postseason, their superstars at the top of the order will need to lead the way.
What was also great about the offensive onslaught spearheaded by the big guns at the top is that so many hits came with runners in scoring position.
New York's struggles with RISP this season have been well-documented -- it's been an ugly trend for the team all year. Just last night, in the bottom of the 10th inning after San Francisco drove in the free runner to take a 4-3 lead, the Mets were unable to do the same. Even worse was it was the top of the lineup that couldn't get the job done, not even able to advance the free runner to third.
It was just another example in a long line of disappointing, albeit much too familiar occurrences. But on Saturday, those troubles were conquered with New York finishing 8-for-17 with RISP.
"At some point this is going to turn and it was good to see it today – up and down, but especially those guys at the top," Mendoza said about his team righting their offensive struggles. "They’re special and when they get going we’re pretty dangerous and we saw it today. We need them."
Of course, it was just one game and the Mets have been susceptible this season to falling flat after a big game offensively. So, the goal for the team for the final two months of the season -- now that the bullpen has been fortified and on full display over the last two games -- needs to be keeping the offense going.
Saturday was a great start in doing that.
"We have a great team overall," Lindor said after the game. "... Our front office did a fantastic job of building and putting this team together and now it's on us."
Facing the Giants for the second time in a week -- a situation he’s thrived in to this point in the season -- Senga was forced to work through trouble in each of his four innings of work.
He danced around a two-on, one-out jam in the first, but then quickly loaded the bases after a double and two walks in the second, and the first run of the game scored thanks to a double play ball.
Senga almost put together his first clean inning of the afternoon in the third, but after issuing a four-pitch walk to Matt Chapman, former Met Dom Smith lined his third home run of the season to even things up at three.
San Fran jumped in front for the first time in the game in the fourth as the struggling Jung Ho Lee led off the inning with a hard-hit opposite-field double and scored two batters later on a Grant McCray single.
Senga was able to get through that frame without any further damage on his line, but he still closed his book with four runs allowed on five hits and three walks with four punchouts across just four innings of work.
“The biggest thing was the uncompetitive pitches,” he said through a translator.
“He’s having a hard time filling the zone right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza added. “A lot of three ball counts, walks, hit by pitch -- he got behind in counts and when he came into the zone they were able to make him pay.”
Senga has now allowed three or more earned runs in four straight outings, and he’s completed five innings just once over that span.
While he insists his hamstring is back to 100 percent healthy, he feels that he may be overcompensating in certain areas mechanically which could be a reason behind the continued struggles.
Either way, the skipper isn’t too concerned just yet.
“He wants to be better, he’s a competitor,” Mendoza said. “We understand where he’s at, this is outing number four after he got hurt, so we understand it’s a process and it’s going to take longer for some guys coming back.
“I’m not worried about it, we’re not worried -- but I’m pretty sure he’s frustrated because he wants to go deep into games and he wants to preform -- and he will. So I’m not worried about it.”
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