Mets’ Cespedes headed for DL

Syndergaard misses start as New York falls into last place.

Yoenis Cespedes reached down in the fourth inning and golfed a pitch on a bounce against the right-center field wall, then while running at three-quarters speed started hopping toward second base. He bent over when he reached the base and put hands on both knees.

In a series of setbacks for the Mets on Thursday in New York, they scratched pitcher Noah Syndergaard because of biceps and shoulder discomfort, lost their slugger Cespedes to a strained left hamstring that will send him to the disabled list, then watched substitute starter Matt Harvey get whacked for six runs in 4⅓ innings.

The Mets’ 7-5 defeat to Atlanta was their sixth straight loss and 10th in 11 games, dropping them below the Braves and into last place in the National League East at 8-13, 7½ games behind firstplace Washington.

Cespedes left a game against Philadelphia a week earlier with a left hamstring cramp and returned to the lineup Wednesday. This time he’ll go on the DL.

Syndergaard hopes to pitch Sunday at Washington, and he called his missed start “a precautionary thing.”

Syndergaard said his arm “kind of started irritating me a couple of days ago,” but that it has been responding well to anti-inflammatory medication.

Harvey (2-1) walked five, including three in an inning for the first time in his career.

Braves: Starting pitcher R.A. Dickey left the game after five innings because of a spasm in his left quadriceps. “He doesn’t foresee missing his next start,” manager Brian Snitker said. He was injured when he hit into a forceout at the plate in the fourth and ran down the firstbase line hard to avoid an inning-ending double play.

Diamondbacks: Righthander Shelby Miller (2-2, 4.09 ERA) has a partially torn ligament in his elbow and is considering Tommy John surgery. He has been on the disabled list since Monday and consulted with three doctors who came up with similar diagnoses.

Nationals: Trea Turner hit a double and two singles in a 16-5 win at Colorado, meaning that in the four-game series he had nine extra-base hits, 11 RBIs and scored 10 runs. He hit for the cycle Tuesday and finished a triple shy of the cycle Wednesday. The Nationals scored 11 runs in the seventh inning Thursday and totaled 42 runs in winning the series’ last three games.