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NEW YORK — The Mets held a players-only team meeting Wednesday night after getting swept by the Dodgers with a 10-3 loss that included another late-inning bullpen implosion and reliever Jorge Lopez throwing his glove into his stands after being ejected.

The score was tied at 3 heading into the eighth inning before the Dodgers scored six times off three relievers. One was Lopez, who surrendered a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani then fell behind 3-1 to Freddie Freeman before taking issue with third-base umpire Ramon De Jesus’ ruling on a check swing. The argument earned Lopez an ejection.

Lopez untucked his jersey and threw his glove over the netting into the crowd as he walked off the field. He did not display any remorse after the game.

“No, I don’t regret it,” Lopez said.

Lopez continued: “Whatever happened, happened. I’ll be here tomorrow if they want me. Whatever they want to do. I’m going to keep doing this thing, you know. I’m healthy. … I’m ready to come back tomorrow if they want me to be here. So I’ll be here.”

Lopez labeled the dispute between him and De Jesus a “misunderstanding.”

“Just something out of emotions,” Lopez said, “I just don’t give a f— [about] anything.”

After the game, the Mets began the process of designating Lopez for assignment, according to The Associated Press. They will have seven days to trade or release him, or send him outright to the minors.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he had not yet talked to Lopez about his behavior when he met with reporters.

“Whenever you’re going through a stretch like this, you want to see some emotions from players, anybody in here,” Mendoza said. “But what we saw today out of Lopey, that’s not acceptable. And we will address that internally here.”

Shortstop Francisco Lindor called for the players-only meeting while Mendoza addressed the media in attempt to rally the team to reverse course.

The Mets, now 22-33, are 16 games out of first place in the National League East and six games out of the final wild-card spot. They have dropped seven of eight games and 13 of 16. Several of the defeats, including two of the three against the Dodgers this week, included bullpen meltdowns late.

Lindor said the meeting, which lasted over 30 minutes, was an opportunity for players to speak up and hold one another accountable. It also came after the team placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with a shoulder impingement earlier Wednesday then lost slugger Pete Alonso to a hand injury after he was hit by a pitch against Los Angeles.

“It was good for everybody,” Lindor said. “A lot of players talked. That’s really good. A lot of knowledge was dropped. Now we just got to put it together.”

The Mets have 107 regular-season games remaining, but the reality is the team has two months to convince president of baseball operations David Stearns to not trade players before the July 30 deadline. Stearns on Tuesday said the deadline will be “an inflection point in the season.”

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone after a hard fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.

After his series-leading sixth victory, Zilisch was climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet to celebrate. He slipped after apparently getting his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting and tumbled awkwardly onto the asphalt.

Zilisch, 19, was taken on a backboard to the trackside medical center and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. He posted on X about two hours later that he had a broken collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injury.

“Thank you everybody for reaching out today,” Zilisch posted. “I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”

Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. After racing in the Truck and Xfinity Series the past two days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a tripleheader by making his fourth Cup start this season for Trackhouse Racing.

The scary incident capped an eventful day for Zilisch, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.

After starting from the pole position, Zilisch wrecked teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while battling for the lead on Lap 65. After being bumped from the lead to fifth on a restart, Zilisch retook first and led the final four laps.

“He did such a great job of getting back through the field and getting the lead,” crew chief Mardy Lindley told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “Praying for Connor right now that he’s OK. I think he’s going to be fine.”

Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He has 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.

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Alonso equals Strawberry’s Mets career HR mark

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Alonso equals Strawberry's Mets career HR mark

MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso hit his 252nd career home run Saturday night, tying the New York Mets record held by Darryl Strawberry for 37 years.

Alonso, 30, connected against Milwaukee Brewers starter Tobias Myers to lead off the second inning for his 26th homer this season, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead in a game they would go on to lose, 7-4. The 413-foot shot to left-center came on a 1-2 fastball at the top of the strike zone.

It was Alonso’s fourth homer in eight games, since he went deep Aug. 1 against San Francisco to end an 0-for-19 slump.

A homegrown star drafted by the Mets in 2016, Alonso broke into the big leagues with a bang in 2019, hitting 53 home runs to set a major league rookie record and establish a franchise high for a single season.

The five-time All-Star has reached 40 two other times and been one of the most consistent sluggers in baseball since his arrival. After a protracted negotiation, he returned to the Mets as a free agent in February on a two-year, $54 million contract that includes a $24 million player option for 2026, which Alonso will likely decline.

The only other active players who lead their current franchise in home runs are Manny Machado (Padres) and Mike Trout (Angels).

Giancarlo Stanton, now with the New York Yankees, holds the Miami mark with 267 for the Marlins.

Strawberry broke the previous Mets record with his 155th home run on May 3, 1988, passing Dave Kingman. Strawberry hit 252 in 1,109 games for New York during his first eight major league seasons from 1983 to 1990. He later played for the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees, finishing his 17-year career with 335 homers.

Alonso played his 963rd game Saturday night. The durable first baseman has appeared in 370 straight, a team record.

The Diamondbacks and Padres are the lone major league clubs that haven’t had a player hit more than 252 homers for them. Luis Gonzalez holds the Arizona record with 224, and Machado entered Saturday with 187 for San Diego.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Rivera tears Achilles during Old-Timers’ game

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Rivera tears Achilles during Old-Timers' game

NEW YORK — Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera tore an Achilles tendon while going after a fly ball at the New York Yankees‘ Old-Timers’ Day game on Saturday and needs surgery.

Agent Fern Cuza said the 55-year-old closer, baseball’s career leader in saves, will have the operation within a week.

In his lone at-bat, Rivera singled off former teammate Andy Pettitte and easily ran to first base. During an at-bat by Willie Randolph, Rivera took a step and fell to the ground in shallow center field behind second base.

The Yankees restored the Old-Timers’ Day game for the first time since 2019.

“It was a fun day until we heard about Mariano. Mariano hurt his Achilles,” seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens told WFAN broadcaster Suzyn Waldman. “I don’t know what was going on. We all thought it was a hamstring, but I think it’s a little worse than that. I think he’s at the hospital now. Unbelievable.”

Rivera was the second player to get hurt in the event since 2017. Eight years ago, former outfielder and current YES Network analyst Paul O’Neill strained a calf running to first base.

Rivera tore the ACL in his right knee in May 2012 while shagging fly balls in batting practice in Kansas City. He returned for his final season in 2013 and finished as baseball’s career saves leader with 652 and posted 42 postseason saves.

In 2019, the 13-time All-Star became the first player unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame by getting all 425 votes in balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He helped the Yankees win five World Series titles and seven American League pennants.

Rivera was playing in the Old-Timers’ game for the second time. He hit an inside-the-park homer in 2019.

The event commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 2000 championship team, the last team to win three straight World Series titles. Clemens was a first-time attendee at the event, which had captain Derek Jeter give a short video message when he was introduced following Rivera.

Before the event, Rivera said he intended to speak with struggling reliever Devin Williams, who allowed three runs in the 10th inning Friday. He has allowed nine runs in his last five appearances and 28 earned runs this year, two more than 2022-24 combined.

“Can’t do nothing about it,” Rivera said Saturday morning. “Once it’s done, it’s done. Just learn from it, move on and be confident. You have to be confident in yourself. If you’re not confident in yourself, you’re playing the wrong sport.”

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