CINCINNATI — Carlos Carrasco will have every opportunity to show he’s ready to rejoin the Mets when he pitches in his second minor league rehab game, on Tuesday for Triple-A Syracuse at Trenton.
The right-hander, who is returning from a torn right hamstring that has kept him on the injured list since spring training, is expected to pitch three innings. In his initial rehab start, last Thursday for Single-A Brooklyn, he went two innings. With the Mets short on proven arms in the rotation, it’s possible Carrasco will be allowed to return during the next homestand, even if it’s for an abbreviated start.“We’re aiming at three innings [Tuesday],” manager Luis Rojas said, adding that Carrasco would “potentially” be ready after that.
The Mets named Robert Stock their starting pitcher for Tuesday’s game. Stock started in the nightcap of a doubleheader against the Brewers on July 7 and allowed two earned runs over four innings. The right-hander pitched an inning for Syracuse on Sunday.
Tomas Nido was behind the plate for a second straight game because team brass liked the manner he handled the pitching staff a day earlier and wanted to keep his bat in the lineup (he had two hits in that game against the Pirates).
Nido went 1-for-3 before James McCann batted for him and homered in the eighth inning of Monday’s wild 15-11 win in 11 innings. McCann, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs on Monday, is expected to start at catcher on Tuesday.
In need of fresh arms, the Mets selected Stephen Nogosek and Anthony Banda from Syracuse. Travis Blankenhorn was optioned to create space on the 26-man roster (the Mets were previously at 25 players after Jacob deGrom was placed on the IL Sunday without a corresponding move). Corey Oswalt was transferred to the 60-day injured list and Johneshwy Fargas designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.
Banda, making his Mets debut, got the win in relief. He entered with a one-run lead in the bottom of the 10th and immediately gave up back-to-back singles to Joey Votto and Tyler Naquin to score ghost runner Mike Freeman and tie the game. But with runners on first and second and no outs, Banda got the dangerous Eugenio Suarez to ground into a double play and got Shogo Akiyama to ground out to end the threat. After getting the leadoff hitter in the 11th, he gave up two more singles to allow another ghost runner to score, but Trevor May came in and got the final two outs.
Sunday marked only the second time in franchise history the Mets won a game after falling behind by six runs in the first inning. The only other occurrence was July 13, 1997 at Atlanta. In that game the Mets fell behind 6-0 in the first inning and rallied to win 7-6 in 10 innings.