Trade coming? Bud Norris scratched from tonight’s start

By Aaron GleemanJul 30, 2013, 12:46 PM EDT
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Bud Norris, like Jake Peavy, has been scratched from tonight’s scheduled start, leading to speculation that the Astros are about to trade the right-hander.

Lucas Harrell will start in his place against the Orioles, who’re one of the teams mentioned as a possible landing spot for Norris.

Norris doesn’t have the same type of top-of-the-rotation track record as Cliff Lee or Peavy, but he’s 28 years old, has been a solid mid-rotation starter with good strikeout rates, and is under team control through 2015.

Steven Matz homers in back-to-back starts

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By Bill BaerSep 18, 2018, 9:03 PM EDT
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Mets starter Steven Matz helped his own cause again, belting a solo home run in the top of the third inning of Tuesday’s game against the Phillies. Matz turned on a 1-1 breaking ball from Cy Young contender Aaron Nola, breaking a scoreless tie.

Matz also homered in his previous start against the Marlins last Thursday. According to MLB Stat of the Day, he is the third Mets pitcher to homer in back-to-back starts, joining Tom Seaver (1972) and Ron Darling (1989).

Matz is the fourth full-time pitcher to hit multiple home runs this season, joining the Reds’ Michael Lorenzen (four), and the Cardinals’ John Gant and Miles Mikolas (two each). The last Mets pitcher to hit multiple home runs in a season was Noah Syndergaard, who hit three in 2016.

Along with the bat, Matz has also been dealing on the mound. As of this writing, he has held the Phillies scoreless over five innings despite walking five batters and allowing two hits.