HE NEEDS A WALKER 300 FEELS GRAND
Neil limps off with leg injury, will go for MRI
Another day, another injury. Neil Walker left Wednesday night’s game after trying to beat out a bunt in the bottom of the third inning. The second baseman grabbed his left thigh after taking a bad step on his way to first base.
The team did not immediately have an announcement on Walker’s injury and when they did all they said was he suffered “a left leg injury,” and would get an MRI on Thursday.
“I am concerned,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Until I see the doctor’s report, until we have him looked at tomorrow. I saw the same thing you did, looked like it was pretty painful.”
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Triple-A second baseman Gavin Cecchini was scratched from the Las Vegas lineup about a half an hour later.
Tuesday, the Mets put shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on the disabled list with a sprained left thumb.
Walker was hitting .271 with nine homers and 33 RBI this season. He was not in the clubhouse after the game.
Curtis Granderson’s leadoff, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning was his 300th career home run. The outfielder became the ninth active player to have hit at least 300 home runs in his career. He has hit 83 in a Mets uniform.
Granderson was more pleased that the homer gave the Mets their sixth win in their last eight games, but thanked his two hitting coaches. He has worked with Kevin Long and Pat Roessler here and with the Yankees before that. “You want to be in that situation to give the team the opportunity to win, but I have to give credit to all the coaches I have had,” Granderson said. “Kevin Long and Six (Roessler) who are here right now, continue to work with me and stay confident. This team continues to battle and giving us the opportunity to win. “Of Granderson’s 83 homers with the Mets, 43 have given the Mets the lead or tied the game. Since May 15, Granderson is hitting .325 with 12 extra-base hits and 12 RBI.
BACK TO THE FUTILE
Struggling righthander Rafael Montero, who was once a Mets top pitching prospect, was called up before Wednesday night’s game to serve as the mop-up man after the bullpen was taxed by the blow-out loss to the Cubs Tuesday night. Montero has an 8.24 ERA in 13 appearances this season. He gave up five earned runs in his last three appearances in the majors, which included the walk-off winning home run in Arizona last month. Josh Smoker, who threw 81 pitches (40 more than his previous career high) in four innings Tuesday night, was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder strain to make room for Montero. He said he had yet to see a doctor or have an MRI. The move shows the Mets’ lack of faith in Hansel Robles was sent out to Triple-A May 23 after a brutal stretch in which he allowed 12 earned runs in 2.2 innings over three appearances. That followed a stretch of 14 straight scoreless innings over 12 games by Robles. So the Mets sent him to Las Vegas to try and find his fastball command. In seven appearances, Robles has allowed seven earned runs, including three home runs, in 8.1 innings pitched. He has walked seven and struck out 11. “He has struggled. The last reports we had the other day, he’s really struggling of command of his fastball, which is why we sent him down there,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He’s the one guy I am trying to keep an eye on a little bit. This guy was pretty effective for a couple of years with us and he has somehow lost command of his fastball and we’ve got to get it back.” So far that hasn’t happened and pitching is thin in the Mets farm system, at least at the upper levels. They lost lefty Sean Gilmartin on a waiver claim to the Cardinals Sunday.