Jeff McNeil got encouraging message from Brandon Nimmo before crushing homer

CINCINNATI — Nothing worked for Jeff McNeil over his first five games of the season, when he collected one hit, was dropped to seventh in the order, got into a tussle with Rhys Hoskins and was the face of a deeply slumping Mets offense. His teammates, though, did not write off the 2022 batting champion. One teammate, in fact, wrote encouragingly for McNeil, who might have broken out of his funk. Friday afternoon, Brandon Nimmo etched a message to McNeil on a bag of batting gloves: “Swing at good pitches...