STEELERS GET NINERS TE
CINCINNATI — Late Tuesday night, the Mets were still waiting to find out where they would be heading next to face the Astros in a series that starts Friday. An MLB source said that a decision was not likely to come down until Wednesday afternoon. The most likely resolution would have the Mets flying to Tampa after Thursday’s day game to play the Astros at Tropicana Field.
“Our preparation is get on a plane and wherever it lands we’ll get off,” Collins said. “Pretty simple, we got our pitching scheduled no matter where it is, going to be the same pitching. We know we’re going to have the (designated hitter) and we’re getting ready for that. Other than that, wherever the game is we’ll be there.”
The Astros, forced out of Minute Maid Park by the catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Harvey, “hosted” the Rangers at the Trop on Tuesday. With water reaching historic flood levels in Houston, it is not likely the Astros will be heading home anytime soon.
Though several Mets have Texas ties, none live in the Houston area. Collins managed the Astros from 1994-96.
“I hate to see that. I’ve lived in Florida, I sat through hurricanes, they are nothing to mess with,” Collins said of the flooding in Houston. “This rain is just unbelievable what it’s done. I feel terrible for everybody in Houston and certainly try to do my part to help out.”
Seth Lugo, a native of Louisiana, was bracing for the rains to hit his hometown. His mother’s house is near a bayou and in last year’s flooding the water came three houses away from hers.
“Right now, everybody is OK, I think she’ll be alright,” Lugo said, “but the floods are rough. You hope everyone is OK.”
A FIRST FOR REYES
Jose Reyes looked unsure of himself and knew he was in trouble. The veteran shortstop had played too shallow on Billy Hamilton’s line drive and was caught. But making his first start in the outfield in his 15 years in the majors, the 34-year-old did the best he could.
“It was good, interesting. I don’t have too many balls hit to me,” Reyes said. “I had a tough one Hamilton, that one was tough for a regular left fielder. I should have been a little deeper, better going in on the ball when you play there the first time. A couple of good ones, at least I was hitting the cutoff man. If you do that, you are working.”
Reyes played six innings in left field. He had played one inning in the outfield earlier this season, but had not started in the outfield since rookie league back in 2000.
“You got a guy like Billy Hamilton, he’s a spray hitter, you don’t expect him to hit one over his head,” Collins said. “I thought he was fine out there. First time out there where he’s gotten some balls hit his way. So, we’ll see how he does another time.”
With the loss of Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes to season-ending injuries last week and after the Mets traded away Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson, the Mets are particularly thin in the outfield. They have Matt Reynolds as an emergency outfielder and they activated outfielder Travis Taijeron Saturday after Cespedes was injured. Collins, however, said this was something he wanted to try and the Great American Ball Park’s small left field was the right place.
Reyes went 1-for-2 with three walks and was caught stealing in the Mets’ 14-4 loss to the Reds. Reyes, who is a free agent after this season, was eager to put a positive spin on a move that he was not thrilled about making this winter, according to people close to him. He hopes the versatility will help him going forward.
“There is no doubt. I feel like a lot teams this year, they use a lot of versatility, a lot of players who can play a lot of positions. That’s going to be a plus for me if I am going to able to play in the outfield,” Reyes said. “I don’t know how it’s going to be, because I don’t have too much work there, but I still going to go out there and I feel like I can play the position and see what happens.”
MEDICAL UPDATES
Conforto was seeking a second opinion on his dislocated shoulder after seeing team doctors Monday, but the team was not expecting an update Tuesday. … Matt Harvey is officially coming off the disabled list and will start Friday, as was reported earlier this week. … Noah Syndergaard is expected to throw a 25-pitch bullpen session Wednesday.
Giancarlo Stanton tied a major league record with his 18th home run in August, but Anthony Rendon had four RBI and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins, 8-3, on Tuesday night in Washington.
Stanton hit a long homer in the first inning, his 51st this season, to open the scoring following a 26-minute rain delay. His August output matched the mark set by Rudy York with the Detroit Tigers in 1937. Sammy Sosa set the record for homers in a month when he hit 20 in June 1998, and Stanton has two games left this month to catch the former Cubs slugger.
l Chris Sale and two relievers combined on a four-hitter, Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run and visiting Boston beat Toronto 3-0. Sale (15-6) fanned 11 in his ML-best 17th double-digit strikeout game, raising his league-leading total to 264. His 15 wins lead the AL. Sale, who matched a season-worst by allowing seven runs in his previous outing, pitched seven innings.
Sale caught Kevin Pillar looking at strike three in the second for the 1,500th strikeout of his career. Sale reached the milestone in 1,290 innings, quicker than any other pitcher. Kerry Wood did it in 1,303 innings.
l Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in four runs, helping the Rangers rout the Astros, 12-2, in the opener of a series in St. Petersburg, Fla., relocated to Florida due to flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey. Adrian Beltre of the Rangers drove in three runs to pass Hall of Famer Ernie Banks for 28th on the career RBI list with 1,637 before an announced crowd of 3,485 at Tropicana Field, the home of the Rays.
l Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer homered as host Kansas City snapped a 45-inning scoreless streak on its way to a 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay. Merrifield’s 16th home run with two outs in the third ended the Royals’ drought, three innings shy of the major league record. The 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and 1968 Chicago Cubs share the mark with 48 scoreless innings in a row.
l Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer and Luke Voit drove in four runs for visiting St. Louis, backing Luke Weaver’s 10-strikeout night in a 10-2 win over Milwaukee. Carpenter’s shot to right in the fifth had added importance for the third baseman after he had pledged $10,000 for every home run that he hit the rest of the season to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The Galveston, Texas native looked up and pointed two fingers toward the night sky as he touched the plate to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 9-1.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have added depth at tight end, acquiring Vance McDonald and a 2018 fifth-round draft pick from San Francisco. The Steelers sent a fourth-round pick to the 49ers.