NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned to action last night and fell to the Royals, 7-6…The Mets have won four of their last seven games…Tonight, the Mets continue a six-game road trip (0-1) to Kansas City (0-1) and Baltimore (three games).
EXPECTED ROSTER MOVES: The Mets are expected to add RHP Phil Bickford and INF Jonathan Araúz for tonight’s game.
HERE’S THE CATCH: Francisco Alvarez has hit 21 home runs this season… He joins Pete Alonso (53, 2019) and Darryl Strawberry (26, 1983) as the only Mets rookies to have 20 or more home runs in a season…Alvarez leads all major league catchers with 19 home runs playing that position and is tied with Arizona’s Corbin Carroll for the rookie lead in homers.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Alonso is third in the majors and second in the Senior Circuit with 31 home runs…He is third in the NL with 77 RBI…He is hitting .349 (15-43) with eight extra-base hits, 15 RBI, nine runs and a 1.187 OPS in his last 11 games…He was hitting .132 (12-91) with seven extra-base hits and a .549 OPS over his previous 25 games (since his return from the IL on June 18-19).
WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: The Mets last played at Kuaffamn Stadium from August 16-18, 2019, taking two out of three games from the Royals…Overall, the Mets are 9-8 against the Royals in the regular season and 4-5 at The K…Pete Alonso has played four games at the ballpark and is 8-17 with four runs, two doubles, two home runs, six RBI and two walks there…Francisco Lindor has hit .290 (51-176) with 31 runs, eight doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 35 RBI and 15 walks in 42 career games at the yard.
DOWN ON THE FARM: Last night, RHP Dominic Hamel tossed 6.1 scoreless innings as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies downed the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 2-0…Hamel allowed two hits, walked three and struck out seven in the victory…Over his last nine starts, he has gone 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA (18 ER/46.1 IP) with 19 walks and 63 strikeouts…Overall, the 24-year-old has made 18 starts (19 games) at Double-A this year, going 5-5 with a 4.43 ERA (44 ER/89.1 IP) with 37 walks and 117 strikeouts…His 117 strikeouts are tied for fourth in all of Double-A…He leads the farm system in strikeouts, second in innings, tied for fifth in wins, eighth in the ERA and WHIP (1.32).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Mets are 24-33 on the road this year…They have posted a 4.77 ERA in away games…This compares to a 3.84 mark at home…New York has played 57 games on the road this year…That is the second-most in the majors…Only the Phillies have played more road games with 59.
LINSANITY: Francisco Lindor ranks 14th in the majors with a 14.7 fWAR… That is seventh-best in the National League…Over the last 36 games, Lindor is batting .288 (38-132) with 28 runs, six doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 21 RBI, 22 walks, 11 steals with a .392 OBP, a .568 SLG and a .961 OPS…Lindor has stolen 17 bases in 106 games this season, exceeding his total from 2022 (16 steals in 161 games)…His career-best is 25 steals 158 games in 2018…The shortstop ranks third in the majors with a 94.4% success rate in steals…He has gone 17 out of 18 in stolen base attempts in 2023.
RETURN OF THE MARK: In eight games since he was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, Mark Vientos is batting .280 (7-25) with two runs, two doubles, one home run, four RBI, one walk with a .321 OBP, a .480 SLG and an .801 OPS.
DOING THE SPLITS: Brandon Nimmo is batting .286 (63-220) with 30 runs, nine doubles, three triples, six home runs, 29 RBI, 30 walks, a .374 OBP and a .436 SLG on the road this season…This compares to a .218/.327/.425 slashline with 18 extra-base hits at home…Francisco Lindor is a .257 (57- 222) with 40 runs, 15 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 43 RBI, 23 walks, a .336 OBP, a .505 SLG and an .840 OPS on the road in 2023…He is slashing .211/.314/.411 with 17 extra-base hits at Citi Field this year.
THEY’RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE: The Mets are in a stretch of 14 of 18 games against American League opponents…They are 4-5 in that span…The new schedule format has New York playing a total of 43 Interleague games in 2023, more than double their previous high for a single season (20)… The Mets are 14-15 against the American League this year…Overall, New York owns a 249-242 record in Interleague play…The team’s .508 winning percentage is the second-best among National League clubs.
JEFF McHITS: Jeff McNeil has safely reached base in 13 of his last 14 games…Over that span that started on July 16, McNeil is batting .273 (15- 55) with nine runs, three doubles, one triple, eight RBI with three walks and has posted a .344 OBP.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: New York has recorded 79 steals in 87 attempts… The team’s 90.8 percent success rate is the best in the majors…The Mets had a franchise-record run of 35 consecutive stolen bases without being caught from May 14-June 29…Overall, New York has been successful in 53 of their last 55 stolen base attempts.
INVADER NIM: Brandon Nimmo has hit 15 home runs in 104 games this season…Nimmo’s career-high is 17 home runs, which he accomplished in 140 games in 2018…The left-handed hitter smacked 16 home runs in 151 games last season.
IF YOU START ME UP: The Mets are 32-8 when the starting pitcher throws at least 6.0 innings…New York has gone 14-1 when its starter pitches 7.0+ innings and are a perfect 5-0 when the starter completes 8.0 innings.
STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 7-5, 3.17 ERA
SENGA GENESIS: Has recorded 130 strikeouts through his first 19 career major league games, that is the third-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (154), and Matt Harvey (138) have recorded more in their first 19 career starts…His 130 strikeouts are the fourth-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 19 career games…He trails only Hideo Nomo (175), Masahiro Tanaka (139) and Yu Darvish (138).
KODAI THE FRIENDLY GHOST: Senga’s seven wins are tied for the most among all major league rookies this season and his 130 strikeouts are the most by any rookie… Among rookies with 50.0 or more innings pitched, Senga is third in the majors and first in the NL with a 11.14 SO/9 rate and third in the majors in opponent’s average (.200).
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 70 of his 130 strikeouts through 19 starts…The pitch has a 58.6 percent whiff rate and a 27.6 percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just 12 hits in 102 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .118 batting average.
SHUT ‘EM OUT: On May 30 against the Phillies, Senga became the 10th rookie in franchise history to throw 7.0 or more innings, while one hit or less and was the first Met since Steven Matz did so on August 14, 2016…Joins Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without allowing a walk.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
BALK OFF!: The Royals won 7-6 in 10.0 innings last night over the Mets on a walk-off balk, the 1st such victory in the 55-year history of the franchise…the game was tied 1-1 into the 7th, when Dairon Blanco scored the go-ahead run on a stolen base/E2, and Maikel Garcia added some insurance on an RBI single…but the Mets scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th to re-take the lead, before the Royals manufactured the tying run in the bottom half when MJ Melendez walked, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Freddy Fermin…the Mets began the 10th with a 2-run homer by Francisco Álvarez, but the Royals answered again in the bottom half with back-to-back run-scoring hits by Bobby Witt Jr. and Melendez…with 2 outs, Blanco reached on an error and Drew Waters walked to load the bases…Josh Walker entered the game for the Mets, but before he could throw a pitch, he was called for a balk that scored the game-winning run from third.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING!: The Royals have won 4 consecutive games to begin this homestand, including a pair of walk-off victories in extra innings…it’s the longest active win streak in the Majors and is their longest win streak since last Sept. 20-23…tonight the Royals seek their first 5-game win streak in two years, since July 20-26, 2021, when they won 6 consecutive games at Milwaukee (2), vs. Detroit (3) and vs. the White Sox (1).
Kansas City’s 4-game win streak has been fueled by strong starting pitching, which has recorded a 2.86 ERA (7 ER in 22.0 IP) over the last 4 games with just 4 walks allowed (1.6 BB/9) and 22 strikeouts (9.0 K/9).
THE RUNNING ROYALS: The Royals went 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts in last night’s win, including 2 by Samad Taylor…the Royals have been successful on their last 12 steal attempts dating back to July 24 in Cleveland, and they lead the American League with 20 steals since the All-Star break, which are 4 more than the Red Sox (16)…for the season, the Royals rank 5th in the Majors and 3rd in the American League with 96 steals.
Bobby Witt Jr. ranks tied for 4th in the Majors with 29 steals, which trails only Ronald Acuña Jr. (51), Esteury Ruiz (43) and Corbin Carroll (33)…with his next steal, Witt Jr. would join Elvis Andrus and Ichiro Suzuki as the only players this century with at least 30 steals in each of their first two big league seasons.
DRAMA KINGS: Last night marked the Royals 19th win at Kauffman Stadium this season, and it was their 6th walk-off victory, which have accounted for 31.6% of their home wins…their 6 walk-off wins rank tied for 4th in the Majors this season, trailing the Twins (8), Phillies (7) and White Sox (7)…Kansas City’s 6 walk-off wins—its most since 2018 (6)—have come on 2 singles, a bunt single, a double, a grand slam, and a balk last night, which was the 1st walk-off balk in the Royals history and the 6th in the Majors over the last 10 seasons, according to Elias.
Last night was the Royals 14th comeback win, and 8 of their last 15 wins have been come from behind.
The Royals are 3-3 in extra-inning games, including a pair of walk-off wins in the 10th inning on this homestand…they’ve won each of their last 3 extra-inning games dating back to June 29, something they hadn’t done since Sept. 30, 2015-June 29, 2016, when they won 5 straight games that ended in extras.
According to Elias, last night was the third time in franchise history that the Royals won despite trailing by multiple runs in extra innings…the other 2 such wins came on May 2, 2000 vs. Oakland, when they scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 10th off Jason Isringhausen to win 8-7, and Aug. 2, 1996 vs. the Yankees—27 years ago today—when the Royals scored 4 runs in the bottom of 10th off Mariano Rivera to win 4-3.
DEADLINE DAY: Before the Royals walk-off win last night, the front office completed two deals at the Trade Deadline to cap a flurry of moves this week…the Royals last night traded Scott Barlow to the Padres for minor league pitchers Henry Williams and Jesus Rios, who were assigned to Class-A Columbia and the Dominican Summer League, respectively…Williams, who was San Diego’s 3rd-round pick in 2021, is now Kansas City’s No. 9 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline…the Royals also traded Ryan Yarbrough to the Dodgers for minor league infielder Devin Mann and outfielder Derlin Figueroa, who were assigned to Triple-A Omaha and the Arizona Complex League, respectively…Mann, who had a .943 OPS with Triple-A Oklahoma City, is now the Royals No. 26 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline…earlier in the day, the Royals acquired left hander Tucker Davidson from the Angels for cash considerations…Davidson, who was designated for assignment last Thursday, will report to the Royals for tonight’s game and will wear No. 41.
Including the trade of Nicky Lopez to the Braves for left hander Taylor Hearn on Sunday, and Jose Cuas to the Cubs for outfielder Nelson Velázquez on Monday, the Royals made five trades in three days, which saw them deal four Major League players for seven players, including six minor leaguers and Davidson.
ROSTER MOVES: Following last night’s game, the Royals optioned pitchers Jackson Kowar and James McArthur to Triple-A Omaha…in one of two corresponding moves, left hander Tucker Davidson will report to the big league club for tonight’s game, and will wear No. 41…Davidson was acquired yesterday from the Angels for cash considerations…additionally, the Royals have recalled left hander Cole Ragans, who will start tonight’s game…Ragans, who was acquired on June 30 in the three-player trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to Texas, made his Royals debut in Game 2 of the July 15 doubleheader vs. the Rays, and allowed just 1 run in 5.0 innings…in his most recent start with Omaha last Thursday, he allowed just 1 hit over 5.0 scoreless innings.
JULY HONORS: The Royals announced today that Bobby Witt Jr. and Ryan Yarbrough have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for July…the awards are determined by a local media vote.
Witt Jr. hit .327 (32-for-98) in 24 games last month with 15 extra-base hits—which tied for the Major League lead—21 RBI and 6 stolen bases with a whopping .979 OPS…in last weekend’s 3-game sweep of the Twins, Witt Jr. went 9-for-14 (.643) with 1 double, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 9 RBI, becoming the first player in franchise history to record at least 9 hits and 9 RBI in a 3-game series…in fact, he’s the first player on any team with at least 9 hits and 9 RBI in a 3-game series since Robinson Canó had 9 hits and 9 RBI in a 3-game series with the Yankees from Oct. 1-3, 2012 vs. the Red Sox, almost 11 years ago.
Yarbrough, who was traded to the Dodgers last night, led Royals starters in July with a 2.19 ERA (6 ER in 24.2 IP), which ranked 6th in the American League (min. 4 starts)…he went 3-1 with 3 quality starts in his 4 assignments and surrendered only 2 walks to 99 batters in 24.2 innings for a 2.0 BB% and 0.7 BB/9.
INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE: The Royals are playing host to the New York Mets this week for the first time since 2019, when the Royals lost 2 of 3…they are 8-9 in 17 regular season meetings vs. the Mets, which mark their 2ndfewest games played vs. any opponent, 2 more than their 15 games vs. the Phillies, whom the Royals will see this weekend in Philadelphia…with a win tonight or tomorrow, the Royals would clinch their first regular season series win over the Mets since 2013, when they won 2 of 3 in New York…of course, the Royals beat the Mets in the 2015 World Series to claim the franchise’s first World Championship in 30 years and second overall, besting New York in 5 games, including 2 extra-inning wins.
Ê The Royals are 11-22 in Interleague play, but have won each of their last 3 games, including July 1-2 vs. the Dodgers…the Royals will play 14 of
their 28 games this month vs. National League teams, including 6 consecutive to begin the month vs. these Mets and the Phillies this weekend.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP COLE RAGANS (2-3, 5.22)
COLE RAGANS is making his 2nd start of the season (19th appearance) and 11th start of his career tonight vs. the Mets…Ragans, 25, was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1st round (30th) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the North Florida Christian High School, and was acquired by Kansas City with 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Roni Cabrera on June 30 for Aroldis Chapman.
RAY-GUNS: Cole made his Royals debut as the 27th Man in the 2nd game of a split doubleheader vs. the Rays on July 15, but did not factor into the decision of Kansas City’s 4-2 loss, despite allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.0 innings, with 3 strikeouts…he exited with a 2-1 lead before the bullpen allowed 3 runs in the final 3.0 innings…Ragans pitched into and out of danger in the 1st inning, working around back-to-back 1-out walks and a single with a caught stealing and a pop out, but faltered in the 3rd inning as Randy Arozarena drove in Wander Franco with a 2-out single, after which he retired his final seven batters.
Ragans’ fastball averaged 97.5 mph and he topped out at 99.8 mph on a pitch to Franco in the 1st inning, becoming the second Royals left-handed starting pitcher in the Pitch Tracking Era (since 2008) to touch 99.0 mph, joining Danny Duffy, who did so 30 times and most recently on Aug. 7, 2013.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Ragans joins the Royals for the second time after being acquired on June 30 from the Texas Rangers, with whom he posted a 5.92 ERA (16 ER in 24.1 IP) with 24 strikeouts in 17 relief appearances this season…Ragans broke camp with the big league club and began the year with 5 consecutive scoreless outings, covering 5.0 innings while allowing just 2 hits…overall, he allowed 16 runs across 24.1 innings in 17 games, with 13 of those runs (12 ER) coming in 3 outings.
Made 9 starts with Texas last year, going 0-3 with a 4.95 ERA (22 ER in 40.0 IP).
Ragans endured two stints on the 15-day Injured List last season due to a left calf strain, from Aug. 26-Sept. 7 and Oct. 3-end of season.
GLAD HE’S ON OUR SIDE: Ragans is making his 2nd appearance as a Royal at Kauffman Stadium, but he has opposed the Royals once this year…the left hander earned the win for the Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 11 when he entered the game in the top of the 10th inning and allowed an inherited runner to score on a sacrifice fly by Michael Massey, but the Rangers walked off Kansas City courtesy of a Jonah Heim grand slam in the bottom half off Scott Barlow.
