CHRIS BASSITT

Outfielder Joc Pederson and left-hander Martín Pérez were the only players to accept $19.65 million qualifying offers from their former teams and end their free agency.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo became a free agent again when he declined his $16 million option with the New York Yankees for 2023.

Aaron Judge, Edwin Díaz, Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson and Xander Bogaerts were among 131 players who became free agents as baseball’s business season began just hours after the final out of the World Series.

Baseball’s biggest spenders looked spent.

Joe Musgrove brushed off chants of “Cheater!”.

Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove had his ears searched by an umpire for illegal sticky substances at the behest of Mets manager Buck Showalter in the sixth inning of San Diego’s 6-0 win in the decisive Game 3 of their NL wild-card series.

The New York Mets held off the San Diego Padres and put elimination on the backburner Saturday night with a 7-3 victory to bring their series to a deciding Game 3.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save the New York Mets’ season with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece.

Josh Bell and Manny Machado smashed two of San Diego’s four home runs off Max Scherzer, and the Padres romped past the New York Mets 7-1 in their playoff opener.

For two teams that finished second fiddle in their divisions, the Padres and Mets bring an awful lot of star power into the playoffs.

Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson homered for the third straight game, Travis d’Arnaud hit a go-ahead two-run single in the third inning, and Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 5-3, completing a three-game sweep of their NL East rival and taking a two-game lead in the division with three games to play.

Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson homered off Max Scherzer, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a crucial 4-2 victory over the New York Mets and a one-game lead in the NL East.

Two months into the season, it looked like the New York Mets were headed for an NL East runaway.

Chris Bassitt pitched eight sharp innings in his return to Oakland, Eduardo Escobar hit a grand slam and the New York Mets extended their lead in the NL East by beating the Athletics 9-2.

Edwin Díaz struck out Gavin Lux on a 102.8 mph fastball to escape a jam in the eighth inning, and the New York Mets beat the major league-best Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.

Pete Alonso reached 30 homers and 100 RBIs on the season to lead the New York Mets to a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jose Barrero hit a game-ending RBI single off Seranthony Domínguez with two out in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0.

Jacob deGrom allowed one run on three hits and struck out six in five innings in his season debut before a bullpen meltdown cost the New York Mets in a 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Houston ace Justin Verlander, who leads the major leagues in wins, takes a 13-3 record and 1.86 ERA into his start Friday against visiting Seattle.

Starling Marte singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets beat the crosstown Yankees 3-2 for a two-game sweep of their Subway Series.

Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off Joe Musgrove and had four RBIs to retake the major league lead, leading the New York Mets over the San Diego Padres 8-5.

The New York Mets won two of three in their NL East showdown with the Atlanta Braves despite playing without two of their four All-Stars. It helped that Francisco Lindor played like he should be included at the Midsummer Classic. Lindor led New York’s home-run barrage with a three-run shot, Chris Bassitt threw six strong innings and the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 7-3 on Wednesday.

The last time Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Kyle Gibson faced the St. Louis Cardinals, they hit four consecutive home runs off him in the first inning.

New York Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt says he “probably won’t” inform team and Major League Baseball officials if he feels COVID-19 symptoms in the future.

Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson is serving his final days with Minnesota before leaving for the same job with LSU.

Major League Baseball is standardizing procedures for rubbing baseballs and their removal from humidors in an effort to establish more consistency amid complaints about slickness that followed the crackdown on sticky substances.

Atlanta Braves reliever Luke Jackson has lost his salary arbitration case.

The two appeared to be an arguing couple, and Gary Cohen did some Hall of Fame riffing.

A seemingly botched third-strike call produced the unusual moment between the ump and Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt.

Adam Frazier and the Seattle Mariners argued the first of this year’s delayed salary arbitration cases, with the second baseman/outfielder asking for a raise from $4.3 million to $8 million and the team arguing for $6.7 million.

The Mets have been drilled 19 times in 20 games this season, leading the league by a wide margin.

The New York Mets are upset after several of their hitters have been hit by pitches over the first few weeks of the season.

The New York Mets’ hit-by-pitch frustrations boiled over when reliever Yoan López threw a pitch near Nolan Arenado’s head, sparking a benches-clearing brawl that led to Arenado’s ejection in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 10-5 victory.

Chris Bassitt pitched six strong innings, and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 for their franchise-best sixth straight series win to start a season.

Francisco Lindor homered from both sides of the plate to back another stingy start from newcomer Chris Bassitt, and the New York Mets routed the sloppy Arizona Diamondbacks 10-3 in their home opener.

Players across the majors will don Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 — and all of them in Dodger blue this year — for the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s big league debut.

A benches-clearing interruption after Mets star Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch overshadowed Max Scherzer’s return to Nationals Park even as the three-time Cy Young Award winner pitched New York to a 7-3 victory over Washington.

Justin Verlander will pitch for Houston for the first time since having Tommy John surgery late in 2020.

The San Diego Padres have acquired left-hander Sean Manaea in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.

New York Mets ace Max Scherzer is dealing with a hamstring issue and isn’t sure when he’ll pitch next.

The Oakland Athletics posted a farewell photo on social media featuring pitching ace Chris Bassitt and their former superstar slugging Matts, third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson, after trading them away in cost-cutting moves so familiar to this low-budget franchise. Missing in the mix: departed manager Bob Melvin, who left in October to take over the San Diego Padres. Meanwhile, the A's welcomed back a pair of veterans who have meant so much to the franchise: catcher Stephen Vogt and infielder Jed Lowrie.

Coronavirus restrictions in Canada and New York have assured that baseball will again be affected by COVID-19 in 2022.

All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players.

Patience is often rewarded for both free agents and general managers during most Major League Baseball offseasons.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt, who made a remarkable recovery from a frightening line drive to the head last year, has been traded by the Oakland Athletics to the New York Mets for a pair of minor league right-handers.

The Seattle Mariners won for the 10th time in 11 games and stayed in the thick of the AL wild-card race with a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Mitch Haniger hit two identical three-run homers and the Seattle Mariners gained precious ground in the AL wild-card race with a 13-4 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt promised to return to the mound by season’s end following a frightening 100 mph line drive to the face on Aug. 17.

Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt promised to return to the mound by season’s end following a frightening 100 mph line drive to the face on Aug. 17.

Oakland Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt is set to return to the mound, just over five weeks after being hospitalized when he was hit in the head by a 100 mph line drive.

The New York Yankees’ 13-game winning streak ended as Frankie Montas pitched seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics held on for a 3-2 victory.

Aaron Judge hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning, Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third consecutive game and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7-6 for their 12th straight victory and longest winning streak in nearly 60 years.

Luis Torrens hit a tiebreaking two-run single, Chris Flexen pitched neatly into the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners swept a quick two-game series against the Oakland Athletics with a 5-1 win.

Josh Harrison hit a two-run single, Starling Marte added an RBI double, and the Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Friday night.

Oakland Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt has a broken bone in his cheek but no eye damage after being struck on the side of the head by a line drive.

Matt Chapman homered and hit a go-ahead double with two outs in the ninth inning, leading the Oakland Athletics over the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 Thursday.