Blevins a hit in relief
Five up, five down. That was what the Mets hoped to get from Jerry Blevins out of the bullpen Tuesday.
“That’s what we needed. We needed that. That’s where we’ve been burned here. We haven’t gotten that in a while,” said manager Terry Collins after Blevins got three of his outs by strikeout in a 5-4 win over the Rangers. “To have him come up and get through the middle of the lineup was huge for us.”
Blevins has been the object of a lot of rumors before and after the non-waiver trade deadline.
“Most of that stuff is out of players’ control and we don’t have to worry about the shuffling,” Blevins said. “All we need is a heads-up on when you think that we’re going to pitch and what kind of role we’re going to be in and we’re ready. We’ve dealt with it all.” Michael Conforto increased his personal-best home-run total to 23 on the second pitch of the first inning. It also was his sixth leadoff shot. Not bad for a guy who almost started the season in the minors.
“Looking at where I started and seeing where I’m at right now, I take that as quite an accomplishment to come from possibly starting the year in Triple-A to being an everyday guy,’’ Conforto said.
Starting at first base is old hat for Neil Walker. He did it before. In 2010. In the minors. Walker got his first major league start at first base Tuesday.
Routine stuff. Hey, he played there for 3 ¹/3 innings Saturday, his only other time there in the big leagues.
“He’s good enough to play anywhere. He’s played third. I think he can play first,” Collins said in explaining the move. “I just want to get Jose [ Reyes] in the lineup and try to get some lefties in there. So I thought this would be a good chance for Neil.”
Walker started the game at first, ended it at second through a double-switch and went 1-for-4.
T.J. Rivera went on the disabled list July 28 with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Collins said it is still too early to estimate when he may be back.
“Still too soon. It’s two weeks after the shot until he can start doing some activities, so we’re getting close to that,” Collins said. “He’s probably down in Florida doing what he needs to do to get ready. But again, I don’t have a date when he’d be back.”
The Mets’ game against the Nationals that was postponed July 5 will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader Aug. 27 in Washington. The first game is 1:35, the second at 8:08, an ESPN Sunday night telecast.