A.J. Minter threw a perfect inning in what became his finale with the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

Brooks Raley earned the win on Thursday in what could have been his swan song with the team.

Freddy Peralta likely will get a chance to become the next Mets pitcher to exit on a high note Friday night, when he is scheduled to take the mound in the second contest of a four-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins.

Peralta (5-9, 4.99 ERA) is slated to oppose the Marlins’ Janson Junk (4-6, 4.89) in a battle of right-handers.

Luis Robert Jr. delivered the tie-breaking two-RBI single in the eighth inning of New York’s 4-2 victory over Miami on Thursday.

The Mets, who are in last place in the National League East and 10 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot, reportedly began their trade deadline teardown after the game. They dealt Minter, a left-handed reliever and impending free agent, to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick. Agbayani is the son of former New York outfielder Benny Agbayani.

Raley and Peralta, each of whom are in the final season of their contracts, likely will follow Minter out the door before Monday’s trade deadline.

But while Raley (5-5, 2.01) and Minter (1-1, 2.35) have pitched well this season, Peralta has struggled since being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in January.

Peralta, the Mets’ Opening Day starter, lasted at least six innings just six times in 22 starts. His ERA is almost twice as high as last season, when he led the NL with 17 wins and posted a 2.70 ERA.

“I know so far that I’ve let them down,” Peralta said following his start on Sunday, when he didn’t factor into the decision after allowing three runs (two earned) over four innings in the Mets’ 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I haven’t done what I’m supposed to do.”

The up-and-down Marlins might still be trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do at the deadline. Miami surged into contention by going 26-8 from June 1 through July 9 before losing 12 in a row.

The Marlins briefly climbed back over .500 by sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game series before arriving in New York.

Miami is 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the last two National League wild-card spots.

“I feel like it’s hard to ignore,” outfielder Jakob Marsee said about trade deadline speculation. “It’s out there and you open your phone, you see it. But at the same time, I think we all love playing with each other and we’re just trying to enjoy it each and every day.”

Junk didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Sunday, when he gave up one run over 4 2/3 innings against the San Diego Padres. He will face the Mets for the first time in his career.

Peralta is 3-5 with a 4.47 ERA in 13 career games (10 starts) against the Marlins.

–Field Level Media

The St. Louis Cardinals visit the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night to open a three-game series that leads into the trade deadline — and possible changes for both teams.

Both are on the fringes of contention for a wild-card berth in their respective leagues, although they would need to climb over several teams over the final two months of the season. A sweep by either team this weekend could determine whether they decide to be sellers before the Monday trade deadline.

The Blue Jays had Thursday off after recording a 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday to complete a 3-3 road trip. They are returning home for three games before hitting the road again and have 17 consecutive games scheduled before another day off.

The Blue Jays have not played like a team poised to make a dramatic late-season run, however. They lost their four previous series before taking two of three from the Nationals.

“That was big,” said Ernie Clement, who was 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI in the finale with the Nationals. “We needed a series win. It was a grindy game (Wednesday), so a big win.”

The Cardinals lost 4-2 in 10 innings to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday to finish a 2-6 homestand before going on the road for six games. After the series with the Blue Jays, they’ll stop in New York to meet the Yankees for three.

“We’ve come up short as of late, but it’s not because of a lack of determination or guys losing any type of edge,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said on Wednesday. “It’s just, we’ve come up on the wrong side of some of these games, but the focus remains exactly where it needs to be.”

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.46 ERA) in the series opener. He is 1-0 with a 5.28 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

Cease is coming off a complete-game one-hitter in a 6-0 victory on the road last Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. He struck out 12 batters and walked three.

Cease lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning against the host San Francisco Giants on July 8 and did not complete that game.

Andruw Monasterio doubled in the sixth inning for Boston to remove any no-hit suspense for Cease earlier this time.

Cease threw a career-high 120 pitches in his masterpiece versus the Red Sox.

“That was awesome,” he said. “I’m very happy they let me go for that.”

“You don’t see it very often,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Dylan’s kind of a throwback pitcher. He’s durable and thrives for that (workload) … he’s evolving as a pitcher and I wanted to give him every chance to finish it.”

The Blue Jays will need Cease to continue to pitch like a candidate for the American League Cy Young Award if they are to make a run for a postseason spot. Toronto enters the game on Friday 5 1/2 games out of the final wild-card in the AL but would need to leapfrog five teams.

“Everybody understands where we are and what has to happen,” Toronto designated hitter George Springer said. “It’s not about stats or numbers. It’s about playing with your hair on fire every day.”

Right-hander Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.55) is slated to start for the Cardinals, who are three games out of the final wild-card spot with four teams ahead of them in line. He allowed one run on three hits in a relief appearance of 1 2/3 innings last season in his only career outing against Toronto.

The Cardinals announced after the game Thursday that left-hander Quinn Mathews would make his major league debut Saturday.

Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did not play Wednesday because of a tight hamstring. The injury, however, is not considered serious.

–Field Level Media

In their first matchup this week with an American League division leader, the Tampa Bay Rays were victorious in two of three games against the Texas Rangers to win their 20th series of the season.

The AL East-leading Rays will hope to make it number 21 when they square off with the tops in the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox, on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Manager Kevin Cash’s Rays won the series against the AL West-leading Rangers on Thursday when Cedric Mullins’ tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 win.

That series win helped the Rays move to 20 games above .500 at 64-44 — the best record in the American League. Forty of those wins have come at home, which tops the majors.

Good things are happening for the Rays, and Cash attributed much of Thursday’s victory to two dynamite defensive plays by right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. that bookended the game.

In the first inning, Mesa ran down Brandon Nimmo’s gapper, which likely that likely would have scored a run. And in the ninth inning, it was an improbable sprint and backhanded snare of Evan Carter’s drive toward the right field line that would have at least tied the game at 3 and left a big mess for closer Bryan Baker.

“The instincts and jumps and reads (of Mesa) just come out of nowhere,” said Cash, whose group is 3 1/2 games ahead of the New York Yankees. “He plays with so much confidence out there, but we have four or five outfielders who are pretty fearless.”

Left fielder Jonny DeLuca also hit a solo homer to give all three outfielders key contributions.

The White Sox’s magical, turnaround campaign continued Wednesday and Thursday on the South Side after losing the first two at home against the Yankees.

The first-place club, which dropped 102 games last season and a record-setting 121 in 2024, rallied from a 4-0 deficit Wednesday by withstanding some incredible five-man infield defense by New York, ultimately winning on Edgar Quero’s 12th-inning single.

On Thursday, All-Star outfielder Tristan Peters worked a base on balls on four pitches with the bases loaded in the 11th inning to drive in the winner on a walk-off walk.

The White Sox recorded their AL-best ninth walk-off win, notching consecutive victories that way for the first time since June 3-4, 2023.

“This is a special group. Just to get a win against the Yankees is awesome,” said Peters, whose first walk-off was a single against the Toronto Blue Jays in Chicago’s home opener on April 3. “Everybody’s ready to go, and we’re not going to give up. It’s just grit.”

The White Sox will embark on a pair of three-game road series in Tampa Bay and Boston over the next week before hosting Cleveland next Friday.

Manager Will Venable’s team is six games over .500 with a two-game lead over the Guardians.

Erick Fedde (5-6, 4.25 ERA) will pitch for Chicago in a matchup of right-handers Friday. He is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in two career starts against the Rays.

Tampa Bay with send out its leader in victories, 10-game winner Nick Martinez (10-2, 2.45). The All-Star is 2-4 with a 4.82 ERA in eight games (five starts) versus Chicago.

-Field Level Media