Mets sign veteran OF Bautista, who doubles, scores in debut
The New York Mets signed Jose Bautista two days after he was cut by Atlanta, and the veteran outfielder made an immediate impact.
The former home run champ hit a double in his first at-bat for the Mets and scored a run Tuesday against Miami. He drew a nice cheer from the sparse crowd on a rainy evening and plenty of high-fives from his new teammates in the dugout.
Needing an extra outfielder, and preferably one who can tag left-handed pitchers, the Mets signed Bautista, and he caught a late afternoon flight from Tampa, Florida, shortly after completing the deal and arrived at Citi Field about a half-hour before gametime.
The Mets reworked their starting lineup and had the 37-year-old Bautista batting fifth and playing left field. Bautista quickly lived up to his nickname of Joey Bats by doubling down the left-field line in the second inning off lefty Caleb Smith, and he scored on Tomas Nido’s sacrifice fly.
The Mets recently lost former Gold Glove center fielder Juan Lagares to a season-ending toe injury. Slugger Yoenis Cespedes is out with a strained right hip flexor, with no timetable for his return.
Mariners: Dee Gordon has joined Robinson Cano on the disabled list, just after taking over for the All-star at second base.
Seattle said Gordon hurt his right big toe
May 9 in Toronto and reinjured it Sunday.
Diamondbacks: Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. is back on the 10-day disabled list.
Souza originally strained his right pectoral muscle during spring training and didn’t start his big league season until May 3. He reinjured the muscle on a throw from right field Friday at New York, took two days off and struck out as a pinchhitter in Monday night’s 4-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Indians: Struggling right-hander Josh Tomlin is out of Cleveland’s rotation.
Tomlin says he “definitely wasn’t surprised” by the move to the bullpen. He was 0-4 with a 7.84 ERA through six starts and seven appearances prior to Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
With Tomlin in the bullpen, the Indians plan to call up right-hander Adam Plutko from Triple-a Columbus to start Wednesday.