Conforto then finally showed signs of breaking out of a deep slump.
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New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes has been scratched from Saturday’s lineup against the Miami Marlins because of a sore right hip.
NY center fielder Juan Lagares made a diving, backhanded catch to rob pinch hitter Ichiro Suzuki of a two-run single and end the sixth, but he hurt his left thumb on the play and left the game in the eighth.
Alejandro De Aza added a two-run double in the ninth. Mets second baseman Neil Walker has two hits in seven career at-bats against the right-hander with a walk and an RBI. A double-play grounder from Michael Conforto followed, moving Céspedes to third, with a broken-bat flair over second base from Flores bringing home Céspedes for a 2-1 NY lead.
Loney had been the hero of Friday’s series-opening win, with a tiebreaking two-run homer.
Conforto hit a game-tying RBI single up the middle off David Phelps in the top of the eighth, snapping an 0-for-20 rut and erasing a 3-2 deficit. That tied the score at 2. This time, manager Terry Collins pulled Robles as the reliever’s struggles continued. He’s gone 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA, 25 strikeouts and one walk in his last seven meetings dating to September 2014. Jeff Mathis then struck out for the second out of the second, with Syndergaard able to escape further damage by striking out Koehler. Lefty specialist Jerry Blevins was subsequently summoned to face pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki with runners on second and third.
Kevin Plawecki, on the other hand, had a game to forget. Plawecki received Flores’ throw ahead of Bour’s slide, but he failed to keep his foot on the plate for the force play. NY dropped four of five heading into its 10-game road trip, but the change of scenery has served the club well as James Loney (5-for-9, home run, three RBIs) and Wilmer Flores (5-for-7, three runs scored) continued their respective strong series. 7-8 batters James Loney and Rene Rivera belted two-run shots in New York’s 6-2 triumph on Friday. For Loney, whose 11-season career has included just those 100 homers, it was a revival moment after being released by the Rays on the eve of the season and unable to find anything more than that Triple-A deal in the Padres’ organization before being acquired by the Mets for cash.
Ivan Nova (3-3, 3.98 ERA) will try to buck the trend against the O’s; Davis, Mark Trumbo and Matt Wieters are a combined 30-for-80 with nine homers against Nova. In seven innings of work that day, the hard-throwing righty gave up no runs on three hits and struck out six batters without walking anyone.
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But they’ve had some terrific home-run seasons and recognizable sluggers such as Kingman, Darryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza, to name a few. “After two or three days of treatment, it will be fine”. On April 13, Cespedes bruised his right thigh diving into the left field stands at Citi Field attempting to catch a foul ball.
