Baty exits early with hammy tightness

Brett Baty’s good start to the season took a hit Tuesday, when the third baseman was removed from the Mets’ 3-1 win over Pittsburgh with left hamstring tightness prior to the top of the seventh. He felt the injury when he lunged to try to beat out a base hit to lead off the bottom of the fifth and briefly remained in the game. Both Baty and Carlos Mendoza sounded confident afterward that the injury was caught early and called it day-to-day, with an off day following Wednesday’s series finale at Citi Field. Baty said he initially decided to stay in the game, but still had tightness when he tested it running while at third base in the top of the sixth, so he was removed.

After the game, Baty noted he had a similar injury last year while the team was on the West Coast, but he ended up missing just parts of two games.

He was replaced Tuesday by Joey Wendle — and since everything is coming up Mets these days, the little-used utility infielder delivered a game-tying double in the bottom of the seventh.

For Baty, the injury could prove to be a setback after he’s taken steps toward establishing himself as the everyday third baseman, with improved play on defense and a more consistent approach at the plate — especially against lefties.

After struggling mightily versus lefty pitching a year ago as a rookie, Baty has shown improvement in that category.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said before Tuesday’s game that the organization was pleased with Baty’s overall play, which helped lead them to keep Mark Vientos at Triple-A Syracuse, since they wanted to make sure Baty continued to get regular at-bats at third, which left Vientos without much of a role on the major league roster.

If Baty doesn’t bounce back as quickly as the Mets believe he will, Vientos has hit well in the minors this season and has spent most of his time at third base, so he would be a logical option to be a temporary replacement.