Laura Albanese

New York

Sports Reporter and Writer at Newsday

New York Mets beat writer @Newsday. Lover of underdogs. If you can't win, don't play. IG: laurawritesstuff; Bluesky: lalbanese; Podcast: @FTLLTC

Articles

Soto homers as Mets rally from 3 down but give it back in 9th, 10th

3 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

LOS ANGELES — For the second night in a row, the Mets entered the ninth inning here at Dodger Stadium clinging to a lead, and for the second night in a row, they saw it evaporate. This time, though, they couldn’t salvage the result. World Series MVP Freddie Freeman blasted Jose Butto’s hanging sweeper off the base of the wall in leftfield to score the ghost runner as the Dodgers came from behind to beat the Mets, 6-5, in 10 innings at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
Mets calling up Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse, source says

4 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

LOS ANGELES – Over 20 months since his last major league at-bat, Ronny Mauricio is coming back to the Mets. Mauricio, the switch-hitting wunderkind who was once the top prospect in the Mets' system but tore his ACL playing winter ball in December 2023, is being called up from Triple-A Syracuse after just 65 minor league at-bats this year, a source confirmed.
Alvarez, Lindor put Mets on top again after Diaz stumble

4 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

LOS ANGELES — It hasn’t been an easy journey for Francisco Alvarez. Thought to be a cornerstone of the Mets' future, he kicked off his spring training by breaking a bone in his hand. When he returned in late April, he at times looked lost at the plate. Slowly, he ceded playing time to Luis Torrens, and going into Monday night’s tilt against the Dodgers, the player who was considered a bat-first catcher was hitting .222 with just one home run.
Mets can make an early-season statement in L.A.

4 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

LOS ANGELES — Monday evening’s heavyweight bout against the Dodgers was the 60th game of the Mets’ season. In baseball terms, it’s barely the beginning. They’re a little more than a third of the way through this 162-chapter epic. The trade deadline remains a ways away. The summer doldrums threaten.
For Mets, what is the best approach for fixing Juan Soto?

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke a lot about self-awareness when he addressed the media Friday afternoon before that night's game against the Rockies. The team is acutely aware of its failures with runners in scoring position and understands that its uncharacteristic defensive miscues need to be remedied. And then there's Juan Soto — the subject of seven of the first eight questions posed to Stearns in the wide-ranging but at times hyper-focused 25-minute news conference.
Mets unable to sweep woeful White Sox

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

On a dreary Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field, one of the worst teams in baseball played one of the best. It was just hard to tell which was which. The Mets committed a pair of errors, and starter Griffin Canning couldn’t make it past the third inning as they fell to the White Sox, 9-4, to snap a four-game winning streak. The defensive lapse led to two unearned runs for the White Sox, owners of the second-worst record in baseball.
Pete Alonso, Jared Young homer to lead Mets past White Sox for fourth straight win

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

To get where they want to be in October, the Mets don’t just need to beat the Phillies and the Dodgers of the world. They don’t always have to look into the eye of the beast. Sometimes, they simply have to be that beast, and remember not to blink. The Mets did what they ought Tuesday night, beating the White Sox, 6-4 at Citi Field, for their fourth win in a row.
Mets third baseman Mark Vientos struggling defensively

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Carlos Mendoza has a perfectly good defensive third baseman in Brett Baty, though Baty wasn’t slotted there Tuesday night against the White Sox. No, instead he opted for a player who’s struggled at that position about as much as anyone in baseball right now. And for good reason, he said. Mark Vientos “is going through it right now,” Mendoza said.
Francisco Lindor's sac fly in ninth delivers Mets' walk-off win

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

After (mostly) slaying the Goliath that is the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets walked into Citi Field on a sun-speckled Memorial Day Monday afternoon riding high and ready for a three-game set against Major League Baseball’s professional punching bag, the Chicago White Sox. That team, losers of an MLB record 121 games last year, doesn’t hit particularly well, doesn’t pitch particularly well, and it doesn’t have the likes of Shohei Ohtani or Freddie Freeman. But what that's saying again?
Mets rally with 3 in 9th, then lose in 13 to Dodgers

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

The rematch of last year’s NLCS had just about everything: two bizarre plays, two Mets injuries, a long third-inning rain delay, and even that one Mets fan who was spotted at Pope Leo XIV’s unveiling earlier this month (the scoreboard dubbed him “Eddie from The Vatican”). The home run apple in center even started smoking at one point, though despite Eddie’s prior experience, that did not, in fact, mean the Mets had elected a new pope.