PHILADELPHIA – Taijuan Walker’s crooked right knee held up Monday night, but his shoulder was not so lucky.
After the second inning was over at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets right-handed player called the coach in the dugout and headed to the tunnel, never to return.
The diagnosis was right shoulder irritation for Walker and a potential second hit for the 1-week Mets rotation. It was a night of pain all the way around for the Mets, who blew a four-run, eighth inning lead and lost 5-4 to the Phillies.
Didi Gregorius’ RBI double against Seth Lugo in the eighth was backbreaker, completing a five-run inning for the Phillies, where they also tagged left-hander Joely Rodriguez. The crash happened after Trevor May, who began his second round of work in the eighth, traveled with soreness in his arm.
Walker and May are scheduled to receive MRI scans on Tuesday. Walker returns to New York for his graduation.
“I heard some good things from them afterwards, but you really do not know until you get in there and leave. [doctors] look at that, ”said manager Buck Showalter.
Walker, who left his last spring training start early with knee discomfort to which he attributed a change in the mechanics of his lower half, indicated that he felt soreness in the shoulder of a shooter he threw in the second half.
“It was pretty sore when I came out, we tested a few times and waited a few laps and tested it again and the strength was much better,” Walker said. “Right now it’s feeling pretty good. It’s not that sore right now.”
Walker underwent surgery in January to remove damaged cartilage from his right knee and started the camp afterwards.
Already with Jacob deGrom relegated (probably until late May) with a stress reaction on his right scapula, the Mets may have to dig deeper into their rotation depths less than a week into the season.
Tylor Megill took deGrom’s place, and David Peterson, who hit four pointless innings in relief on Monday, would be a first-class candidate for the starting line-up if Walker needed an IL effort.
May hit a pointless seventh, but was uncomfortable after going Alec Bohm to start on the eighth and went. The right-hander said he had been treating biceps / triceps soreness for about a week and “pushed through” and was feeling well recently.
“I was fine in the first inning, and when you’re sitting and it’s cold outside, it’s normal when you have to find a way to fire it up again,” said May, who played no more than one inning in any performance. last season. “It simply came to our notice then. I went out there and it really did not loosen up. ”
It marked another game in a row that crumbled for the Mets in the eighth inning. A day earlier, the Nationals scored three times in the eighth and won 4-3, with Chasen Shreve and Trevor Williams allowing the races. But Pete Alonso’s throwing error, which followed a late, underhand throw to the plate on a safety clip, was a major factor. For both games, the Mets were without Edwin Diaz, who has been on the mourning list since Saturday. He could return as early as Tuesday.
On Monday, Rodriguez allowed a pinch-hit single for Johan Camargo, after May left and the RBI fielder’s choice for Kyle Schwarber, before JT Realmuto smashed a two-run homer to the left field. Lugo went past Nick Castellanos and handed a matching double to Rhys Hoskins before Gregorius doubled in the walk-on race.
The Mets sent eight batteries on the plate in the first inning and jumped to a 3-0 lead against left-wing Ranger Suarez. Two of the races scored with two outs.
Starlet Marte hit a shot from Suarez’s glove that ran to Bohm at third base. Bohm’s quick throw to first was wild, giving the Mets runners in second and third place. After Suarez scored an out, Alonso hit an RBI fielder’s choice. Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha each delivered an RBI single before the inning was completed.
Bohm had a terrible night at third base, making three throwing errors on his first seven chances. After the error on the Marte deflection, he threw a grounder by James McCann, leading from the second and another from Alonso in the third.
Francisco Lindor’s RBI single with two outs in the seventh extended the Mets’ lead to 4-0 after McCann took the lead from the inning and stole second.
“I thought Francisco’s addition run was big for us,” Showalter said. “But we needed a few more.”