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The Mets dropped their second straight game to the Pirates by a 9-2 score. They took a quick 1-0 lead in the first on a Juan Soto hit, but rain paused the game for 90 minutes in the second. The Mets brought Paul Blackburn back following the delay, and it proved to be an ill-fated decision, as he surrendered five straight hits before being pulled. By the end of the second, the Mets found themselves down 3-1, and they never recovered. The bullpen was great from innings two through seven, but Huascar Brazobán and Colin Poche melted down in the eighth to allow six runs. Carlos Mendoza was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.

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Following the loss, the Mets held a players-only meeting, which comes with the Mets losing 12 of their last 15 games. Brandon Nimmo called the meeting “good and productive”.

Six or seven players spoke, including Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. Nimmo says he was not one of the guys who spoke.

Soto also spoke at the meeting, expressing to his teammates to, “Keep Going. Believe in it.”

Lindor provided some of his takeaways from the team meeting.

Sean Manaea is slated to throw a bullpen session today, after which he will start another rehab game. It is not guaranteed that he will return after that, according to Carlos Mendoza.

Brooks Raley continued his rehab with Double-A Binghamton last night, while Jesse Winker will start for High-A Brooklyn today. It’s unlikely Raley will return until after the All Star break.

The Mets have released Grant Hartwig.

Metropolitan Park cleared another hurdle as it received approval from the State Senate.

Around the National League East

The Braves did the Mets a solid by defeating the Phillies 6-1.

The Marlins scored three in the eighth, tied it up in the ninth and went ahead in extras as they beat the Diamondbacks 8-7 in ten innings.

The Nationals fell by an 8-2 score to the Angels.

Around Major League Baseball

MLB Hall of Famer and former MVP David Parker passed away at the age of 74.

Michael Clair shared the origin story of Parker’s ‘Boys Boppin’ shirt.

The Tigers hit four homers en route to routing the Twins 10-5.

The Athletics blanked the Yankees 7-0, as JP Sears was dealing against his former club.

The Rays took a big lead and didn’t blow it this time as they obliterated the Orioles 11-3. Jonathan Aranda provided the key highlight for Tampa Bay with a 467 foot home run.

The Rangers walked off the Mariners 3-2 in ten innings. Texas is hoping a hat change could do the trick, and the early returns are positive following Marcus Semien’s walk off.

The Royals held off a ninth inning rally by the Dodgers and won 9-5. Despite the loss, everyone is talking about Shohei Ohtani throwing a 101.7 mph pitch, which is the fastest of his major league career.

The Padres came back to defeat the Reds 6-4 on the road.

After surrendering six in the fourth innings, the Cardinals plated five in the sixth to top the Guardians 9-6.

The Red Sox, who have been starved for runs as of late, erupted for a 15-1 win over the Blue Jays.

The White Sox shut out the Giants 1-0.

The Brewers one-hit the Rockies in a 5-0 win.

The Cubs blasted the Astros 12-3.

This Date in Mets History

Tom Seaver became the franchise’s all-time wins leader on this date in 1969, a record he has never relinquished.