Home Customer Service Stay Connected Read today’s Edition Cascades Best News Sports Living & Entertainment Opinion Obituaries Shopping/Reviews Press Releases Sponsored Content Classifieds Place an Ad – Celebrations Search Jobs Search Legal Notices Advertising SPORTS Mets aim to remain hot in series vs. Yankees BY FIELD LEVEL MEDIA FIELD LEVEL MEDIA MLB STORIES UPDATED JUNE 24, 2024 1:15 PM The New York Mets know they’re the hottest team in baseball this month. But thanks to a chaotic ninth inning Sunday night, the Mets don’t know who their closer will be the rest of June and the start of July. The Mets will be without Edwin Diaz and possibly Drew Smith Tuesday night, when they look to remain red-hot while hosting the New York Yankees in the first Subway Series game of the season. Left-hander David Peterson (3-0, 3.97 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Gerrit Cole (0-0. 4.50). The Mets’ latest series win may have come with a heavy price Sunday night, when they beat the host Chicago Cubs 5-2 in the finale of a three-game set. The Yankees lost their third straight series earlier Sunday afternoon, when the visiting Atlanta Braves earned a 3-1 victory. Diaz, who was 1-0 with two saves in his first three appearances after a 15-day stint on the injured list for a right shoulder impingement, entered for the save opportunity Sunday night but was ejected by crew chief Vic Carapazza after he determined Diaz’s hand had an illegal sticky substance. Diaz said his hand contained the allowed mixture of rosin, sweat and dirt, but Carapazza told a pool reporter “…(t)he substance was extremely sticky. Discolored. That was that.” Pitchers ejected for using illegal substances are subjected to an automatic 10-game suspension, which would keep Diaz out through July 5. The Mets are not allowed to replace him on the active roster. Smith, who served a 10-game suspension for sticky stuff last summer, entered and conducted his warmups on the mound. The right-hander, who has two saves this season but missed more than a month with a sore right shoulder, was visited by trainers after recording the first two outs and exited following Dansby Swanson’s single. Jake Diekman notched his third save by striking out Patrick Wisdom.
The closer drama overshadowed another impressive win by the Mets, who lead the majors with a 13-6 record this month after going 9-19 in May, which tied New York with the Oakland Athletics for the worst mark in baseball. “We have been through a lot this year and we will find a way to get through it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. The Yankees continued encountering their first serious challenges of the season during their three-game series against the Braves. New York went 16-2-2 in its first 20 series but has only a 7-9 record since June 7, a span in which it has dropped series to a quartet of contenders in Atlanta along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. “Nobody’s hanging their heads, nobody’s panicking in here,” pitcher Nestor Cortes said. “Just a rough patch that (over) 162 games you’re going to go through.” The Yankees sustained their biggest loss against the Braves in an 8-3 win Saturday night, when designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton suffered a left hamstring injury while scoring from second in the fourth inning. Stanton was placed on the injured list Sunday — his eighth trip to the shelf in six seasons in New York — and is expected to miss a month.
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