No rest for Cespedes after quad scare

CINCINNATI — Yoenis Cespedes had to prove himself before he could get into the lineup Monday. The Mets’ $110 million slugger had left Sunday’s game with what he said was a tight right quad, but worked his way into the lineup for the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Reds at Great American Ballpark.

“We took him out on the field, put him through a bunch of calisthenics and exercises to make sure he could cut and get to where he wanted to be during the game,” the Mets manager said Monday afternoon. “He came out of it really well. He looked really good doing it.

“So, he’s is going to be out there on that field today.”

A day after Cespedes left the game with right quad tightness, which was originally reported as hip and then groin tightness, it is a huge break for the Mets that he does not have to miss any time. Cespedes went 2-for-4, with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI.

The Mets were just starting to get the benefits of their slugger this season. He hit .316 on the 0-6 homestand. It had been a slow start to 2018 for Cespedes, who is hitting .254 with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Despite struggling to get going this year, Cespedes was tied for fourth in the NL in RBI and had three game-winning RBI. confines at the Great American Ball Park, but Michael Conforto busted out of a 5-for-40 slump with a lead-off homer and a single Monday night.

“That felt good. Just to feel the barrell a little bit,” Conforto said of snapping a 74at bat home run drought. “Just to see the ball go over the fence and jog around the bases. That definitely felt good. Good to start the game off that way.

“Guys were swinging it today, putting together great at-bats, just felt good to start the game that way.”

Conforto began the season a little later, held back from the first week as he rehabbed from September shoulder surgery. Even after the two hits Monday, Conforto is hitting just .198 and the homer was just his second of the season.

He said that sitting the two previous games might have been more motivation than rest.

“Obviously I want to be out there, but there’s probably something to that. It allowed me to get in the cage, work on some things,” Confoto said. “I could take a step back and look. Watching the game from the bench gives you a different perspective, so maybe I just wanted to be out there again. I think it helped me get in the cage and work on something, that’s for sure.”