Travis picks up the slack for short-handed Mets

The text told him to dive for every ball, stay low and be ready for everything to be hit to him. Travis d’Arnaud texted David Wright to ask to borrow the third baseman’s glove for an emergency spot start “at third,” Wednesday night. He got permission, some advice and a good luck wish.

The Mets were in a jam Wednesday night when they had to scratch two infielders right before the game, despite the fact they apparently injured themselves Tuesday night. Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores both complained of sore left sides of their rib cages and came to the park to try and play through it. Flores felt the pain when he tried to warm up in the batting cages, Reyes during batting practice.

“So far the reports are both felt it last night. Really didn’t say anything until today,” Terry Collins said, adding that he was concern about injuries to the oblique and intercostals. “As you are certainly all aware, that is a real scary part to have an injury.”

Both players were taken to the hospital for exams during the game and the team did not provide an update.

While the Mets expect to call up two infielders before Thursday’s game, most likely Matt Reynolds and Gavin Cecchini, they could not get reinforcements from Las Vegas in time for a 5-3 loss to the Yankees at Citi Field.

So, d’Arnaud made his first professional start at third and his first start anywhere besides catcher since a Triple-A start at first in 2013.

“Found out an hour and half before, went and took some ground balls,” d’Arnaud said. “I texted David and asked him if I could use his glove that (bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello) had here and asked him for some advice. He just said stay low and expect every ball coming to you.”

Except the Mets had a plan to hide d’Arnaud from the ball. They swapped him and Asdrubal Cabrera at second 22 times during the game, putting the veteran infielder where they expected the ball to be. It’s a tactic Terry Collins used in Triple-A in 1976.

“I did myself. I hadn’t done it in

BY ZACHARY RIPPLE, KRISTIE ACKERT & JUSTIN TASCH

the big leagues ever, but when you are in the minor leagues as long as I was, we were short players and we had a catcher play the infield,” Collins said. “I went to third, went to second. Told them before the game, seen this done before. Not that this is always going to work.

“But, it was the only option we had,” Collins said. “Cabby made some real nice plays. All we had to work with today.”

D’Arnaud had one bunt hit to his side of the field that was fielded by catcher Rene Rivera and did not get another chance until he caught Todd Frazier’s pop up in the ninth . it,” Gsellman said. “I definitely do need to pitch better. I really care. It’s my job, so I definitely care. I apologized to Sandy for saying that and we talked it out.”