Jerry Beach, Author at The Rapid City Post

Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young catches a fly ball hit by New York Mets' Brett Baty during the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Fancy footwork: Young’s spectacular catches in center lead Nationals past Mets

September 21, 2025

Washington Nationals center fielder Jacob Young has made two incredible catches that sent the New York Mets to a costly defeat. Young actually used his foot to rob Brett Baty of extra bases with a juggling grab in the fifth inning, then made a leaping play in the ninth to take away a tying homer from Francisco Alvarez. Washington held on for a 3-2 victory over the Mets, who began the day with a one-game lead over Cincinnati for the final National League wild card.

Washington Nationals catcher Jorge Alfaro, left, watches as New York Mets' Juan Soto hits a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Mets slugger Juan Soto hits career-high 42nd homer in first year of $765 million contract

September 19, 2025

Juan Soto has hit his career-high 42nd homer. The slugger reached the milestone in the first year of his record $765 million contract with the New York Mets. Soto’s 419-foot, three-run shot to straightaway center capped a six-run rally in the fourth inning against Washington. The 26-year-old topped his previous career high, which he set last season with the crosstown Yankees. Soto signed his 15-year deal with the Mets in December. He’s the eighth player this century to have consecutive 40-homer seasons for different clubs.

New York Mets' Kodai Senga pauses before pitching during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Senga is not guaranteed a roster spot if the Mets make the playoffs, and Garrett is sidelined again

September 18, 2025

Kodai Senga might be pitching for a spot on the New York Mets’ postseason pitching staff when he takes the mound for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday night. Senga opened the season with a 1.47 ERA in his first 12 starts but was optioned to Syracuse on Sept. 5 after posting a 5.90 ERA following his return from injury. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Senga is not guaranteed a roster spot if the Mets make the playoffs. They entered Thursday 1 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks for the final NL playoff spot. Also, Reed Garrett went on the injured list for a second time in a month on Thursday.

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

McLean goes 8 innings as Mets blank Phillies 6-0 for 3-game sweep

August 27, 2025

Nolan McLean became the first New York Mets pitcher to win his first three major league starts, tossing eight magnificent innings in a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that completed a three-game sweep. Mark Vientos homered and drove in three runs as the resurgent Mets moved within four games of first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. They improved to 7-2 against the rival Phillies this year, clinching the season series and a potential postseason tiebreaker. The teams play a four-game series in Philadelphia from Sept. 8-11. The Mets are 8-3 since McLean made his debut Aug. 16 against Seattle.

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean reacts after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies during a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Nolan McLean makes Mets history and continues to provide much-needed boost

August 27, 2025

Three games into his major league career, Nolan McLean has already accomplished something Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jacob deGrom or anyone else wearing a New York Mets uniform could not. McLean became the first Mets pitcher to win his first three MLB starts, tossing eight marvelous innings in a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that completed a three-game sweep. Facing the Phillies, who entered Wednesday with the second-best batting average in the majors, the 24-year-old right-hander allowed four hits and walked none with six strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches — just 55 through the first six innings.

Atlanta Braves' Michael Harris II, center, celebrates his grand slam during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Michael Harris II’s grand slam caps 9-run fourth as Braves rally to beat Mets 11-6

August 13, 2025

Michael Harris II hit a grand slam to cap Atlanta’s biggest inning in almost five years — a nine-run outburst in the fourth that propelled the Braves to an 11-6 comeback win over the slumping New York Mets. The Braves fell behind 6-0 in a game delayed 95 minutes by rain before storming back against David Peterson and Reed Garrett. Peterson issued four free passes in the fourth, including a bases-loaded walk of Nick Allen, and gave up Jurickson Profar’s three-run double before Marcell Ozuna greeted Garrett with an RBI single. Three batters later, Harris hit a 417-foot homer to straightaway center.

New York Mets' Pete Alonso gestures to the crowd after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Pete Alonso breaks Darryl Strawberry’s Mets franchise home run record

August 12, 2025

New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso has connected for his 253rd career homer, breaking the franchise record held by Darryl Strawberry for 37 years. The 30-year-old Alonso drove a 95.1 mph fastball from Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider just over the wall in right-center for a two-run shot in the third inning. Alonso’s 27th homer of the season lifted the Mets to a 5-1 lead. The Mets celebrated the accomplishment with a scoreboard graphic with the number 253 alongside pictures of Alonso and polar bears in honor of the slugger’s nickname. Alonso went deep again in the sixth.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams (32) reacts after giving up a hit during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Gavin Williams overcomes frightful first, nearly pitches Guardians’ first no-hitter in 44 years

August 6, 2025

Two hard-hit comebackers in the first inning had Gavin Williams worrying about the direction his start would take against the New York Mets. Instead, the Cleveland Guardians right-hander nearly made history. Williams came within two outs of Cleveland’s first no-hitter in 44 years before Juan Soto homered with one out in the ninth. Hunter Gaddis finished the combined one-hitter in a 4-1 win.

Gavin Williams just misses Guardians’ first no-hitter in 44 years in 4-1 win over Mets

August 6, 2025

Gavin Williams came within two outs of Cleveland’s first no-hitter in 44 years before Juan Soto homered with one out in the ninth inning, and the Guardians completed a three-game sweep of the reeling New York Mets with a 4-1 win Wednesday. Williams (7-4) walked three and struck out six, including Francisco Lindor to lead off the ninth. But Soto homered just beyond the leaping grasp of center fielder Angel Martinez two pitches later. The Guardians have not thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker twirled a perfect game on May 15, 1981. Their no-hitter drought is the longest in the majors.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tyler Rogers (71) delivers in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Newcomers Helsley, Rogers and Mullins join Mets in the thick of a pennant race

August 1, 2025

Pitchers Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers and outfielder Cedric Mullins jumped into a pennant race when they joined the National League-East leading New York Mets in search of the franchise’s first championship since 1986. The Mets, who fell to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s NLCS, entered Friday with a half-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies.

New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning, center, is helped off the field by head athletic trainer Joseph Golia, right, and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, June 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Mets P Griffin Canning injures left ankle. Manager Carlos Mendoza says ‘it looks like an Achilles’

June 26, 2025

New York Mets right-hander Griffin Canning left Thursday night’s game against Atlanta in the third inning after suffering a left ankle injury on a non-contact play. After the Mets beat the Braves 4-0, New York manager Carlos Mendoza said Canning’s injury “looks like an Achilles.” Canning struck out three and allowed just one baserunner — Eli White’s single leading off the inning — before he was hurt while breaking toward the left side of the infield on Nick Allen’s one-out grounder to shortstop. The 29-year-old Canning immediately began hopping on his right leg and took only a couple steps before dropping onto the field with his left leg elevated. The Mets said after the inning that Canning will undergo imaging on the ankle.

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge walks to the dugout after striking out during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Yankees searching for answers after 3rd straight shutout

June 17, 2025

The New York Yankees’ offense is drifting toward uncharted territory — and not in a good way. The team tied a franchise record by getting shut out for the third straight game Tuesday night, when the Yankees went 0 for 10 with runners on base in a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees have been blanked in three consecutive games seven times in their 123-year history — but only three times in the last 50 years, most recently from Sept. 22-24, 2016. The last major league team to get shut out in four straight games was the Kansas City Royals in September 2017.

Mets get homers from Alonso, Lindor and Soto to finish 3-game sweep with 5-3 win over Rockies

June 1, 2025

Francisco Lindor once again homered in a victory and Clay Holmes threw a career-high seven innings as the New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 5-3 win. Pete Alonso hit a three-run shot and Juan Soto also went deep as the Mets won for the seventh time in eight games to regain sole possession of first place in the NL East. The Rockies lost their eighth straight and fell to 9-50, the worst record through 59 games of any major league team in the modern era. Lindor snapped a 3-all tie with a solo shot in the fifth. The Mets have won the last 26 games in which Lindor has homered, the second-longest streak in big league history.

New York Mets' Juan Soto (22) reacts after striking out during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Soto falls deeper into slump with another hitless game in Mets’ loss

May 28, 2025

Juan Soto’s numbers are getting ugly. The slumping New York Mets slugger went hitless again Wednesday and failed to get the ball out of the infield in a 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox. After signing a record $765 million contract in December as a free agent, Soto is batting a measly .224 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 55 games during a turbulent first season with the Mets. The four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner was 0 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout Wednesday in a dreary performance. He is hitless in his last 16 at-bats and hasn’t homered since May 9, a span of 75 plate appearances.

Jerry Beach.