Vargas works four innings in Double-A rehab outing

TRENTON >> Mets starter Jason Vargas threw 74 pitches in a rehab outing for Double-A Binghamton against the Thunder on Sunday afternoon.

Vargas was on the mound for the first time since he was placed on the injury list on May 6 with left hamstring tightness.

“It was pretty minimal when I first hurt it, but it definitely kept me from doing what I needed to do, but it felt pretty good out there today,” Vargas said. “Just going out there and having a good competitive outing. I think we got that.”

The 36-year-old lefthander tossed 45 of his 74 pitches for strikes and didn’t all a hit until Trenton’s Zack Zehner belted a solo homer on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the fourth. Vargas had struck out four consecutive batters before the home run.

Vargas came back out for the fifth inning, but walked the first two batters he faced and was pulled after reaching his pitch limit. He said his fastball command faded near the end of the outing, something he attributed to the injury layoff.

“I talked with (pitching coach Jonathan Hurst) about that and that’s why we kept throwing so many fastballs down and away there at the end to try and really focus on staying together,” Vargas said. “Just haven’t been on the mound in a couple weeks. It’s warmer than it has been and the pitch count was higher than it has been in two or three weeks.”

Vargas is 1-2 with a 5.92 ERA in seven appearances (six starts) for the Mets this season. After a rocky start, he pitched slightly better before the injury, allowing four runs over his last 18 innings.