Yoenis Cespedes Pulls Hamstring; Mets Lose to Braves

You didn’t think things could get worse for the Mets, did you? Well, on a day Noah Syndergaard missed his start because of biceps tendonitis, Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game because of pulled hamstring. Oh, and the Mets lost again to the Braves. Oh, and Matt Harvey looked terrible with the emergency start.

Two walks and a single resulted in a run for the Braves in the second inning. Another walk (told you Harvey looked terrible) loaded the bases with one out. R.A. Dickey hit a grounder to third. Instead of going home for the force, Jose Reyes threw to first for some reason and the run scored to make it 2-0.

Another poor decision in the bottom of the inning, this time by third base coach Glenn Sherlock. Jay Bruce led off the inning with a double and when Neil Walker singled to center, Sherlock decided it would be a good idea to challenge Ender Inciarte’s arm. Bad idea — Bruce was out by a mile.

Harvey got himself out of a huge jam in the fourth. A single, walk and error by Bruce at first loaded the bases with no outs. But Reyes certainly learned from his second inning mistake, going home on two grounders. Harvey got the third out and escaped the inning.

Then came the worst part of the Mets season thus far. Cespedes led off the bottom of the fourth with a double. But as he was coming into second, he pulled up lame. He needed help to get off the field. It is the same left hamstring that caused him to miss three games over the weekend. Who knows how much time he’ll miss now? Juan Lagares replaced him and he scored on a Walker double. Walker would eventually score on a passed ball to tie the game at two.

But that would not last. A single and double made it 3-2, and then Kurt Suzuki connected for a three-run homer and suddenly it was 6-2.

That ended Harvey’s day with the ugly pitching line of 4.1 innings pitched, six runs on five hits, and an uncharacteristic five walks and just one strikeout.

Reyes got one of the runs back with a leadoff homer in the fifth. It was his first homer, and shockingly, hit first RBI of the season.

Josh Smoker pitched 2.2 innings of no-hit ball with four strikeouts in relief, so that was a bright spot.

But that was about it. The Mets added a couple of runs in the ninth to lose 7-5. They have now dropped of six straight and are now in last place in the NL East. Now we wait on Yoenis Cespedes.