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New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz is not giving up on potentially playing in 2023 despite suffering what appeared to be a season-ending knee injury in the World Baseball Classic.

Diaz spoke to the media and raised the possibility of pitching again in 2023, saying it was his goal if some of his upcoming tests came back clean.

“I’m feeling great, we are working hard to see if I can come back. The doctors say I’m doing great,” Diaz said. “They want me to get my knee better first, then they will see how I respond in my strength, all these things I have to do. If the tests come back good, I might throw this year.”

Diaz pitching in 2023 is probably a long shot, but one he is unwilling to rule out at this point. He sounded optimistic after the injury, and the chances may be enhanced since his arm was not impacted.

Diaz was dominant in the closer role for the Mets in 2022, posting a 1.31 ERA with 32 saves.

If the Yankees intend on meeting expectations this season, they will need a healthy and productive Aaron Judge.

Without him for the past month — and with no indication when he might return from the sprained big right toe — they have figured out a way to at least survive and keep themselves in position for the playoffs.

Another good day from the offense led to an 8-4 win over Baltimore in The Bronx, as the Yankees improved to 13-13 since Judge got hurt in Los Angeles.

As a result, they picked up another game on the Orioles, who are in second place in the AL East behind front-running Tampa Bay.

“I’ve been happy all year with the way we compete,’’ Aaron Boone said  after his team won for the seventh time in 10 games. “And it hasn’t been perfect. We’ve been banged up and it hasn’t always been easy for us. They’ve put us in a spot to have a really good season.”

On too many occasions this month, the Yankees have needed their pitchers to be nearly perfect in order to have a chance to win because of their scuffling offense.

For the first time in weeks, that was not the case Wednesday night, but Domingo German achieved perfection anyway.

German threw the fourth perfect game in Yankees history and the 24th  in MLB history, dazzling as he retired all 27 batters he faced on 99 pitches with nine strikeouts in an 11-0 win over the Athletics that 12,479 witnessed at Oakland Coliseum.

German’s final offering in a six-pitch ninth inning was grounded to third base, where Josh Donaldson fielded it cleanly and fired to first before the Yankees mobbed German near the mound.

“When you think about the history of baseball and how many pitchers have done it, to be part of history now, it’s exciting,” German said through an interpreter.

On a night when he had his curveball working from the start — he went on to throw it 51 times and induced 12 whiffs — German was untouchable while working with catcher Kyle Higashioka. 

Just when Mets’ fans thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Mets followed up a miserable road trip with a loss at home to the Brewers 2-1 on Monday night.

Even having Justin Verlander on the mound couldn’t fix what’s ailing the Mets, as they dropped their fifth in the last six games — and 16th of 21 — as the season that began with enormous expectations continues to spiral out of control.

They are now a season-worst eight games under .500 (35-43), a season-worst 16 games back of the NL East-leading Braves and 8 games behind in the wild-card race.

“I don’t think anyone saw this coming,’’ Verlander said, seemingly stunned at what he’s become a part of.

On Monday, Verlander pitched five scoreless innings, but needed 100 pitches to get there and had to be replaced to start the sixth.

Drew Smith, fresh off a 10-game ban for violating the league’s sticky substance policy, entered with a one-run lead and gave up a two-run homer to Joey Wiemer to put Milwaukee ahead.

But as Buck Showalter said before the game, it’s impossible to point the finger at one area in which the team is lacking.

This time, the offense came up small against right-hander Colin Rea, scoring just one run — which was aided by an error by Milwaukee catcher  William Contreras.

They finished with three hits on the night.

Adolis García hit a two-run homer on Michael King’s first pitch of the 10th inning, and the Texas Rangers beat the slumping New York Yankees 4-2 on Friday night for their fifth win in six games.

New York’s offense again struggled in the absence of injured slugger Aaron Judge. The Yankees are last in the major leagues in batting average and runs in June, managing six hits or fewer in five of their last six games. They are 10-16 this year when Judge has been on the injured list, losing 10 of 16 since he hurt a toe. New York is 31-19 with Judge available.

The team’s other big slugger, Giancarlo Stanton, is hitting .096 since returning from a strained hamstring, going 5 for 52 with a pair of solo homers for his only RBI.

Texas leads the AL West and tops the majors in scoring and batting average.

García drove a hanging curve from King (1-4) into the left-field seats, giving him 17 homers and 60 RBI. King has struggled of late, with a 9.95 ERA in his previous five outings.

Joe Barlow (1-0) worked around a two-out single in the ninth, and Will Smith pitched the 10th for his 14th save in 15 chances.

At least on this night — though he hopes for many more — Max Scherzer looked like the future Hall of Famer whom the Mets made their $130 million man.

Scherzer saved his best start of the season and his longest as a Met for the defending world champs, silencing the Astros in an 11-1 laugher on Monday at Minute Maid Park that was well-timed for the star and his club.

The Mets (34-38) showed some hope to begin a six-game road trip that will go from Texas to Philadelphia. 

They have a pulse after winning just their fourth game in the past 15 and beating the Astros for the first time in their past eight head-to-head matchups.

A pair of five-run frames helped. 

As did Francisco Lindor’s five RBIs. But the Mets have Scherzer — whose ERA fell from 4.45 to 4.04 — to thank most for the series-opening destruction.

For a third start in a row, the Mets staked Scherzer to a significant lead, but for a first time in that span he held it. Scherzer allowed just five base runners and one run in eight excellent and efficient innings. 

NEW YORK — Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on interim champion Yair Rodriguez in a unification match in the main event atop the UFC 290 PPV card on Saturday night, July 8th. 

Hoops Cabaret (48 West 33 Street), called the world’s sexiest sports bar, will be showing the fight live on its numerous HD TVs and huge Mega-Tron Video Wall. The Hoops Cabaret girls will also host one of their famous After-Party events.

Volkanovski is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound male fighter in the sport. He’s looking for his fifth consecutive title defense after falling short against Islam Makhachev in his bid for two-division glory this past February. To do so he’ll have to get past Rodriguez, who captured the interim title with a second-round submission of Josh Emmett.

Co-headliner on the card is Brandon Moreno defending his flyweight strap in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja.

Located just one block from Madison Square Garden, Hoops Cabaret combines the fun of a sports bar with the excitement of a gentlemen’s club. It’s a great place to watch all sporting events. “Come make it rain on all the sexy girls,” said Hoops girl Nadia. “And don’t miss the after-party, it’s sure to be amazing.” 

HOOPS Cabaret and Sports Bar

Highly Recommended

The loss of Aaron Judge clearly has impacted the Yankees’ offense, but the reigning AL MVP wasn’t the only slugger on their roster who previously has proven capable of carrying a lineup for lengthy stretches.

Giancarlo Stanton also had been one of those hitters earlier in his career — and when healthy, at times, with the Yankees — but he has been searching to regain any semblance of his timing and power stroke since returning from the injured list.

Stanton now is batting .119 (5-for-42) with 15 strikeouts over his first 12 games since making it back from a six-week hamstring absence. 

Those numbers include seven hitless at-bats with one walk and five Ks as the Yankees were swept — 6-2 and 4-1 — by the Red Sox in Sunday’s day-night doubleheader at Fenway.

“I just need to find my rhythm, pick the ball up a little sooner,” Stanton said between games. “The reps help, but at this time, I don’t have time to just take reps to get them under my belt. I need to make an impact when I’m in there, so I just need to figure it out.”

Stanton has not been the only lineup regular slumping since Judge was sidelined with a toe issue two weeks ago; Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson also have been mired in pronounced skids.

“They’re gonna hit. Big G is gonna hit. They’re gonna get it rolling.,” Aaron Boone said. “We just gotta grind our way through it right now while we’re in a little bit of a struggle.”

The game was certainly an emotional roller coaster. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead thanks to Nolan Arenado’s two-run bomb in the first, but Matthew Liberatore had a clunker and couldn’t make those runs stand up.

Paul Goldschmidt drove in a pair with a double while Brendan Donovan brought one in with a single. Paul DeJong and Jordan Walker also provided some power. What was left of their early lead was washed away by former Cardinal Tommy Pham’s two-run shot against Chris Stratton.

From there, it was a battle of the bullpens. And in the ninth, the Mets bullpen blinked first when Arenado took another former Cardinal deep in Adam Ottavino.

Jordan Hicks made things a little interesting, but got a double play to secure an 8-7 win for the Birds and their first series victory since late May against the Dodgers.

The Vegas Golden Knights, in just their sixth NHL season, defeated the Florida Panthers 9-3 Tuesday night in Las Vegas to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in five games.

Vegas captain Mark Stone had a goal in each period to lead the Golden Knights, who joined the NHL before the 2017-2018 season. 

The 31-year-old Stone becomes the first player since 1922 to net a hat-trick in a Stanley Cup-clinching victory, according to the NHL. 

After the game, each player took a turn, as is tradition, in hoisting the famed trophy.

“Unbelievable,” Stone said of the experience. “I just looked at my teammates’ eyes … One of the craziest feelings I’ve ever had. Just to know that I did it with my 25, 30 best friends makes it that much more special.”