MILWAUKEE — Francisco Alvarez was on the bench for Saturday’s game after leaving the previous evening with back spasms, but he found his way back into action.
The catcher entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of the 6-0 loss to the Brewers and remained in the game late in the period.
A night earlier, Alvarez reached his back while sliding toward third base in the seventh inning and had to be helped by his teammates to walk from the dugout to the clubhouse, but manager Carlos Mendoza said Alvarez quickly started to feel better.
Still, Mendoza opted to give Luis Torrens a start behind the plate on Saturday.
The Brewers were 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts against Alvarez on Friday, but Mendoza didn’t want to put the blame on his starting catcher.
“There’s a lot of noise with Alvarez, but I think it starts on the mound,” Mendoza said. “We have to give the receivers a chance here. [The Brewers] are good. Not only are they fast, but they have information and will gather some tips, so we should do a good job of protecting our home.
That night, the Brewers were 2-for-2 in stolen bases (one against Torrens and the other with Alvarez in the game).
Torrens threw out 13 of 26 (50%) runners who attempted to steal against him.
Mendoza after the game named David Peterson as the starting pitcher for Sunday. The left-handed Peterson was scheduled to pitch in Wednesday’s game in Atlanta that was postponed.
Jeff McNeil is about to begin workouts following the broken wrist that has kept him sidelined since September 7. The Mets utility man has been away from the team for about a week while awaiting the birth of a child.
Sean Reid-Foley is not a candidate to pitch for the Mets in the postseason at any point. Mendoza made it official that the right-handed reliever is done for the season.
Jose Iglesias singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games. During his hitting streak, Iglesias is 30-for-72 (.417). This is the longest hitting streak by a Mets player since Wilson Ramos hit in 26 consecutive games in 2019.
