THE JOY OF CES’
Trespedes T rips 3 of Mets’ 7 HRs in n rout of Phils
Yoenis Cespedes celebrates the first of his three homers as 14 of the Mets’ 20 hits went for extra bases in their 14-4 win in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA — Yoenis Cespedes might as well have been hitting tee shots from home plate with his driver Tuesday night.
Boom, boom, boom, the Phillies outfielders needed more room. In the end, there was Cespedes with the second three-homer game of his career, leading the Mets’ 14-4 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think any baseball player that hit three home runs would be having a lot of fun,” Cespedes said. “It wasn’t just for me, though: It was really great to see the whole team getting hits and having fun.”
The Mets, who won their third straight, finished the night with seven homers to fall one short of the franchise record. Lucas Duda homered twice and Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis d’Arnaud delivered one apiece on a night the Mets totaled 20 hits.
But the enthusiasm of the victory was tapered somewhat with Matt Harvey’s departure in the sixth inning because of tightness in his left hamstring. Even so, Harvey fully expects to make his next start.
“Covering first I ran over and I took my last step and it kind of cramped up,” Harvey said. “It’s nothing serious.”
The ominous sight of Harvey leaving the mound escorted by trainer Ray Ramirez came after the right-hander had allowed two earned runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings for his second straight solid outing since returning from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” Harvey said.
Cespedes, who finished 4-for-6 with five RBIs, homered in the first, fourth and fifth innings to become the first Mets player to twice hit three homers in a game. He had previously accomplished the feat on Aug. 21, 2015 at Colorado. And Cespedes’ four extrabase hits in the game — he doubled in the seventh inning — tied a franchise record.
“Don’t think for one second this guy is not going to have a huge year,” manager Terry Collins said. “I am not surprised by it at all. There’s going to be nights where he’s going to get hot and he has that kind of power. Batting practice today, it looked like the driving range the way he was hitting balls.”
Cespedes wasn’t alone in his feats of strength: Duda hit a titanic solo blast in the sixth that cleared the high ivy-covered wall behind the center-field fence.
But Cespedes owned the night. He cleared the center-field fence in the first for a three-run homer against Clay Buchholz before tormenting lefty reliever Adam Morgan with two missiles into the left-field seats.
Buchholz departed in the third inning with right forearm tightness after allowing six earned runs on eight hits.
Jose Reyes, who entered 1-for-27 (.037), was evicted from the leadoff spot, replaced by Curtis Granderson. Reyes, who batted seventh, finished 1-for-6. It marked the first time Reyes batted seventh or lower since July 5, 2005 against the Nationals.
“I just thought he’s really trying to get it going and really putting extra pressure on himself,” Collins said. “So I just thought I will move him down tonight, and when he gets it going, he is too big a piece of the team and too big a piece of something we don’t have, and that’s somebody who can create runs without hitting a homer, who we need to get going.
“You watch him swing and he’s been a guy who always stayed inside the baseball and try to put a good swing on the ball. Right now I think he’s over-swinging a bit. He’s swinging a little too hard. You look up and he’s gotten himself behind in counts, too.”
Reyes didn’t dispute Collins’ assessment.
“I feel like I’m chasing a lot of pitches right now,” Reyes said. “As soon as I start to lay off those pitches I think I’m going to be better, because they have to throw me strikes and I can put my best swing on the ball.”