The winning continued at Citi Field on Tuesday night. So did the injuries.
The Mets lost two more players — second baseman Jeff McNeil and center fielder Albert Almora Jr. — in the span of five innings in their 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Orioles.
McNeil pulled up lame while trying to stretch a single into a double in the third inning. Almora had to leave after running at full speed into the fence in right-center field during the eighth and staying down for several minutes.
“That was a lot more scary,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said of the Almora injury.
Neither injury was as severe as it looked, according to the team. The Mets labeled McNeil’s injury “body cramps” while Almora was alert and celebrating with his teammates in the clubhouse. Rojas said Almora was feeling pain in his shoulder, but X-rays were negative and he will be examined further Wednesday.
“My level of concern was really high at that point, but he got up,” Rojas said. “He wanted to stay in the game, but there was no way after that collision. … That was a hard hit on the wall. Thank God he was able to get up.”
Albert Almora Jr. and Jeff McNeil N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg (2)Less than an hour after the game, Almora tweeted: “I caught it.”
On a well-struck single to right-center field, McNeil was trying to stretch his hit into a double when he stopped running a few strides from second base and allowed himself to be tagged out. He walked gingerly back to the dugout.
“Right now, he feels like he dodged a bullet by pulling off, but he was cramping,” Rojas said. “Nothing was pulled or anything, it was just a cramp.”
That cramp came at a bad time. McNeil was beginning to heat up, with hits in his first two at-bats on Tuesday and going deep in a win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday. He has hit safely in seven of his past nine games.
Losing McNeil would be a big blow. The Mets are still without starting center fielder Brandon Nimmo (bruised left index finger) and third baseman J.D. Davis (left hand sprain). Rojas said before the game they were both making progress, with Nimmo ahead of Davis by a few days since he is facing live pitching and swinging without discomfort.
As for Almora, he nearly robbed Austin Hays of an extra-base hit in the eighth inning before the impact of running face-first into the wall dislodged the ball. He stayed down before eventually getting to his feet with help from the training staff and walking slowly to the dugout.
He received an ovation from the Citi Field crowd, which had even more reason to cheer an inning later, as the Mets rallied for their sixth straight victory.
