Manager Terry Collins was simple, blunt and to the point when asked what Lucas Duda needed to do to remain in the Mets’ lineup.
“Hit,” Collins said. “Get some hits.”
So Duda went out Friday and did just that. He got some hits, two to be exact, including a home run.
Duda didn’t deliver the go-ahead homer that Daniel Murphy did or the backbreaking blast that Juan Uribe produced. But Duda slugged a solo shot his first time up — ending a 66 at-bat homerless streak — to even the score for the Mets, who went on to a 5-1 victory over the Yankees on Friday in the Subway Series opener at Citi Field.
“Yeah, just nice to win. It’s nice to contribute,” said Duda, who also doubled in the fourth, was denied a sixth-inning hit when he drove a grounder into the Yankees shift and was thrown out from short right and finally flied to deep center in the eighth.
For Duda, the two hits nearly equaled his total since he was activated from the disabled list Sept. 7 after an absence with lower back stiffness. Following the obligatory minor league rehab, Duda was just 3-of-25 in his return before Friday. Collins stressed minor league rehabs are nice but not the real thing. Duda, Collins said, had to “come back up here … facing good major league pitching [and] get used to facing it.”
Duda looked as if he had it down. In fact, he resembled the offensive monster who went on that ridiculous July 25-Aug. 2 eight-game streak in which he hit nine homers, drove in 12 runs and batted .393 (11-of-28).
“Major league pitching is a lot different than minor league pitching or machines or tracking balls. Still trying to get my timing back but I’m feeling better,” Duda said. “The main thing is I feel good, and the more at-bats I get, the better my timing is.”
Nothing wrong with his timing in the second inning, when he ended his season high-tying homerless streak. With the Yankees up, 1-0, Duda unloaded a mammoth blast to right on a 1-2 Masahiro Tanaka splitter to even matters at 1-1. It was Duda’s 22nd homer of the season and the first of three for the Mets.
And the big surprise? One of the home run hitters was not named Yoenis Cespedes.
“Certainly, Yo has been unbelievable with what he’s done,” Collins said. “But in the last couple weeks, you keep looking up and there’s other guys getting hits. And tonight we got other guys getting hits.”
Guys like Duda.
