Mickey Togs

Pitcher Kodai Senga was masterful again and the Mets offense did just enough in Ronny Mauricio‘s debut to beat the Mariners 2-1 at Citi Field.

Mauricio made his MLB debut and handled himself well. A natural shortstop, the infielder started at second base and made every defensive play hit his way including a nifty double play in the third inning.

But he was just as impressive at the plate. In his first at-bat, Mauricio launched a double 117 mph off the bat. It’s the hardest hit ball by a Met this season. In his second at-bat, Mauricio struck out swinging on three pitches, but picked up a single in his third AB. The infielder finished 2-for-3.

Mauricio became the first Met to have multiple hits in his MLB debut since Steven Matz — yes, the pitcher — in June 2015.

Brett Baty returned as the third baseman. His offensive struggles continued but that could have been a product of Mariners starter Logan Gilbert who was on his game. 

The Mets offense had a hard time getting to Gilbert. The 26-year-old got through 6 innings while giving up just one run; his one mistake was a solo shot given up to Brandon Nimmo in the sixth that tied the game at 1-1.

Kodai Senga was masterful again, keeping the red-hot Mariners off balance with his wide array of pitches and fooling them with his patented ghost fork. 

The names on the New York Yankees aren’t as readily recognizable, and sitting in last place in their division and likely missing the playoffs certainly aren’t familiar positions for the organization.

But Monday against the Tigers, the Yankees flashed some of their big bats and ability to pitch.

The Tigers, despite some great pitching from Reese Olson and some brief excitement in the ninth inning, lost 4-1 in the opener of the four-game series at Comerica Park.

The Yankees (63-68) came into the game playing less than .500 baseball and in last place in the American League East, losers of eight of their last 10 games.

The key turning point occurred in the seventh inning, just after the Tigers (59-72) failed to tie, or go ahead, in the sixth.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres connected on back-to-back homers – the seventh time the Yankees have hit consecutive homers this season – off relief pitcher Beau Brieske giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

Hormel Foods is working with a humanitarian organization to send SPAM to Maui following the recent massive wildfire.

Hormel, which produces the canned pork product, is sending ‘The Convoy of Hope’ to Maui after the island was ravaged by the disaster, which resulted in over 100 deaths. Hawaii consumes an estimated 8 million cans of SPAM per year, the most of any U.S. state.

SPAM became popular in Hawaii during World War II when soldiers stationed in the Pacific were served the meat on the frontlines and remained popular in the area.

“Now is our time for all to help. We need to come together for Maui, it’s going to take years for them to rebuild.”

Joey Lucchesi has spent most of the 2023 season as a forgotten man,  but the left-hander is an additional pitcher who is under the Mets’ control for 2024 and capable of getting outs in the major leagues.

Friday night was an opportunity for the team to savor the best of Lucchesi, who pitched strong into the sixth inning in the Mets’ 7-1 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

The Mets (57-66) won for the fifth time in six games, continuing their recent success against the NL Central. Facing the Cubs, Pirates and Cardinals over the last week-and-a-half, the Mets have gone 6-2.

Brandon Nimmo homered leading off the game for his 18th of the season, a career best. The Mets extended their lead to 2-0 in the third on Jeff McNeil’s RBI single. 

McNeil’s three-run homer in the seventh broke it open. After the Mets loaded the bases with nobody out and scored a run on Lindor’s RBI fielder’s choice, Alvarez stroked an RBI single that widened the lead to  4-0. McNeil followed with a shot over the right-field fence for his sixth homer of the season.

Carvel welcomes back one of the brand’s original soft-serve flavors with the return of Pistachio this season.

Pistachio can be enjoyed in a variety of Carvel treats including soft serve, scooped ice cream, Flying Saucers and a Pistachio Crunchies Dasher layered with Pistachio soft serve, hot fudge and Carvel’s iconic chocolate Crunchies.

Here’s a closer look at Carvel’s Pistachio lineup:

• Pistachio Scooped: Carvel’s scooped ice cream in a smooth Pistachio flavor.
• Pistachio Soft Serve Cone: Pistachio-flavored soft-serve.
• Pistachio Carvelite: A smooth, lighter taste that blends well with the brand’s low-calorie ice cream.
• Pistachio & Chocolate Crunchies Sundae Dasher: Layers of Pistachio soft-serve, bittersweet fudge and chocolate crunchies. Topped with whipped cream and chocolate crunchies.
• Pistachio Flying Saucer: Pistachio soft-serve sandwiched between two Flying Saucer chocolate wafers.

Rookie Masataka Yoshida hit a three-run homer four batters into the game and drove in four runs, and Brayan Bello pitched six innings Friday night to lead the Boston Red Sox to an 8-3 victory over the skidding New York Yankees, who dropped two games under .500.

The Red Sox took a 4-0 lead 19 pitches in against rookie Jhony Brito (4-6) when Yoshida hit a changeup into the right-center field seats. Yoshida homered after the Yankees were charged with consecutive mound visits to go over signs because the PitchCom device was not working for the Red Sox, meaning the Yankees were unable to use it.

After allowing Judge’s 23rd homer, Garrett Whitlock struck out Giancarlo Stanton to end the eighth. Brennan Bernardino allowed two hits to start the ninth and Chris Martin finished off Boston’s sixth win in seven meetings against the Yankees.

The Yankees avoided being shut out in three straight games for the first time since September 2016 when Anthony Volpe doubled and scored on DJ LeMahieu’s groundout in the third.

Shake Shack will debut a new Triple Chocolate Brownie Shake alongside the returning fan-favorite Oreo Cookie Funnel Cake Shake.

• Triple Chocolate Brownie Shake: Chocolate frozen custard hand-spun with brownie bits, chocolate sprinkles, and chocolate chips, topped with whipped cream and brownie crunch.
• Oreo Cookie Funnel Cake Shake: Oreo cookies and funnel cake crunch hand spun with vanilla frozen custard, topped with chocolate whipped cream.

Prices may vary, but both shakes are priced at $6.69 each for a regular at my nearest Shack, while a mini costs $4.79.

You can find the new Triple Chocolate Brownie Shake and Oreo Cookie Funnel Cake Shake at participating locations nationwide for a limited time.

Last place was theirs for the first time this season on Sunday, but the Mets finally showed up against their chief NL East tormentor and promptly relinquished it.

The embarrassment stopped, at least for a day. 

The Mets received a solid pitching performance from Kodai Senga and  in a flashback to last season grinded at-bats in a fruitful sixth inning that sparked a 7-6 victory over the Braves at Citi Field.

In losing the first three games of this series the Mets had been outscored 34-3, but on this night contributions throughout the lineup —  No. 9 hitter Rafael Ortega went 3-for-4 with two RBIs — added even the smallest semblance of decency to the weekend; the Braves had never swept a four-game series in Queens.

The Mets (53-65) were a percentage point below the Nationals for last place in the NL East as the night began, but clawed back to fourth. 

The team’s mission for the final 44 games of their season might be summed up as such: find rest for the veterans, get experience for the rookies and avoid the NL East cellar.

A recent study conducted by the Philadelphia Inquirer showed that the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium, the longtime former home of Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies and the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles, had cancerous chemicals, which may have been the cause of several former Phillies players’ deaths.

The Inquirer launched its investigation into the Vet’s turf after relief pitcher David West became the sixth former Phillies player to have died from glioblastoma, a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer, following Tug McGraw, John Vukovich, Ken Brett, Dan Quisenberry and Johnny Oates, all of whom died before the age of 60. The study found that the turf, which was produced by Monsanto and used at the stadium from 1977 to 2001, had dangerous “forever chemicals.”

The Phillies had previously sold pieces of the turf sealed in 4-by-4 inch bags in 1982 and four were purchased by the Inquirer on eBay as part of its investigation in 2022. The samples were analyzed by two separate labs and found to contain 16 different “forever chemicals” that fail to break down and remain in the human body for years.

The chemicals are connected to several forms of cancer, including brain cancer, which claimed the lives of six of the 532 former Phillies players who played at the Vet from 1971 to 2003, more than triple the average rate of adult men.

Veterans Stadium was demolished in 2004 with the Phillies moving to Citizens Bank Park and the Eagles moving to Lincoln Financial Field that same year.