The Mets got a scare when Noah Syndergaard was drilled in the lower part of his right rib cage by a line drive in the seventh inning Saturday against the Phillies.
The shot off the bat of Cesar Hernandez came with the bases loaded and drove in a run. It also finished Syndergaard’s night in a game the Mets won 10-5 at Citi Field.
X-rays were negative and Syndergaard said he doesn’t expect it to impact his next start, but admitted it was a “scary situation.”
“It’s been my nightmare ever since I started playing baseball and today was my judgment day,” Syndergaard said. “Everyone’s asking if I’m OK, [but] I’m just concerned if the ball’s all right.”
Jokes aside, it was a bit of a step back for the right-hander, who was coming off his first career complete game in San Francisco and opened Saturday’s game with five scoreless innings.
Syndergaard (11-3) gave up a career-high 12 hits, as well as five walks and four runs in 6 ²/₃ innings, but a three-run double by Tomas Nido and a three-run homer by Todd Frazier helped give Syndergaard plenty of support.
Dominic Smith also exited with a tight left groin in the sixth. Mickey Callaway said Smith tweaked his groin Friday but was fine before the game Saturday, which is why he started in left. He was replaced by Jack Reinheimer.
Buddy Harrelson was at Citi Field on Saturday helping raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.
“It’s nice coming back,’’ Harrelson said before the game. “I’m back home,” Harrelson said before the game.
The former player, coach and manager has had a mixed history with the organization in recent years. He told The Post in February he rarely heard from the Wilpons and had shifted his loyalty to the Long Island Ducks, but Harrelson was accompanied Saturday by team COO Jeff Wilpon, as well as Harrelson’s family. Harrelson hadn’t been to Citi Field since the All-Star Game in 2013., but as he battles Alzheimer’s, the 73-year-old was clearly pleased to be back in Queens, where he won World Series titles as a player and coach.
The team showed a video montage of his highlights during the game and Harrelson waved to the crowd when shown on the scoreboard in the third inning.
Jeff McNeil added three more hits and made a nice defensive play up the middle on a Carlos Santana grounder in the fifth.
“He’s added a whole other dimension to the way our lineup looks,’’ Callaway said.
With Devin Mesoraco out with a bulging disk, the Mets selected the contract of Jose Lobaton on Saturday from Triple-A Las Vegas.
To make room for Lobaton on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred Bobby Wahl to the 60-day DL with a right hamstring strain.
Mesoraco is scheduled to rest for about a week before being reevaluated. Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido have been the catchers in Mesoraco’s absence. Lobaton entered Saturday 7-for-46 in 19 games with the Mets in 2018.
Callaway said Juan Lagares won’t have a normal offseason this year after missing most of 2018 following surgery on his left big toe.
“When you’re in a rehab like this, where you’re trying to get back to full baseball activity, you try to get to that point before you shut yourself down,’’ Callaway said. “It’ll be a different offseason than he’s used to because you want to get as much baseball activity in. Once you get as healthy as you can, you take a little bit of a breather and then come into spring training ready.”
Lagares, who played in just 30 games this season, is signed through next season and is set to earn $9 million in 2019.
Steven Matz was honored before Saturday’s game as the team’s Roberto Clemente Award recipient.
