Griffin Canning placed on the injured list by Mets after surgery to repair ruptured Achilles tendon

PITTSBURGH (AP) — New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning had surgery on Friday to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the season and possibly part of 2026.

Canning was injured during Thursday night’s 4-0 win over Atlanta while coming off the mound to field a grounder. Signed to a $4.25 million, one-year contract as a free agent in the offseason, the 29-year-old right-hander was 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 16 starts as he bolstered an injury-depleted rotation.

Canning has had a turnaround season. Last year, with the Los Angeles Angels, he went 6-13 with a 5.19 ERA in 32 games.

“He is a guy that had a hard year last year and put in a lot of work in the offseason,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said before the Mets lost to the Pirates 9-1 on Friday night. “We signed him, and he was very open to the information and the feedback and everything we had to offer. And for him to not just take the information but actually going out there and executing and having the year that he had, he was pretty consistent for us.”

Third baseman Mark Vientos was reinstated from the 10-day injured list before Friday’s series opener at Pittsburgh, left-handed reliever Colin Poche’s contract was selected from Triple-A Syracuse and right-hander Blake Tidwell was recalled from Triple-A.

Right-hander Austin Warren and infielder Jared Young were optioned to Triple-A.

Tidwell will take Canning’s place in the rotation for at least one turn. The rookie is expected to start next Wednesday in Milwaukee, though Mendoza would not commit to the 24-year-old beyond that start. Tidwell pitched the final 3 1/3 innings on Friday and gave up four runs in a 73-pitch outing,

Tidwell made his major league debut on May 4 and went 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA in two starts. He pitched in 13 games with Syracuse and had a 4-4 record and 4.76 ERA.

Vientos had been out since June 3 with a right hamstring strain. Vientos went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter on Friday and is hitting .226 with six homers. He hit 27 home runs last year abd five more in the postseason as the Mets reached the NL Championship Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brent Baty had been getting most of the starts at third base while Vientos was sidelined. The Mets also decided to keep infielder Ronny Mauricio, a rookie hitting .226 with three homers in 18 games. Mauricio is ranked as the Mets’ fourth-best prospect by Baseball America.

“Mauricio can provide some versatility, and I like the way he has been playing for us of late,” Mendoza said. “We feel there are going to be enough at-bats for him here to keep him on the roster.”

Poche, 31, began the season with Washington but was released on May 5 after having an 11.42 ERA in 13 relief appearances. The Mets signed him two days later, and his ERA was 7.11 in 12 games at Syracuse.

Left-hander Richard Lovelady declined his outright assignment to Triple-A and became a free agent. Outfielder José Azócar accepted his assignment to Syracuse after clearing waivers.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York Mets' Griffin Canning pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, June 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Griffin Canning pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, June 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning, center, is helped off the field by head athletic trainer Joseph Golia, right, and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, June 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning is helped off the field by head athletic trainer Joseph Golia, right, and assistant athletic trainer Bryan Baca during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, June 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)