Yoenis Cespedes' 'tee shot' homer lifts Mets against Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — Yoenis Cespedes insists he’s not about to stop playing golf during the season. If he keeps up his latest power surge, the New York Mets may provide him his own cart and a new set of clubs.
Cespedes created a New York kerfuffle a little over two weeks ago when he went on the disabled list with a strained quadriceps the same day he played a round of golf. He had been nursing the injury for almost a month and finally had to take time off, but the coincidence of the two events did not sit well with Mets fans, and general manager Sandy Alderson conceded “the golf is bad optics.’’
The Mets went 5-9 during Cespedes’ absence, and this weekend he showed once again what a formidable force he can be when healthy.
Cespedes hit three home runs of more than 400 feet in the last two games against the San Francisco Giants, including a two-run blast off Jeff Samardzija on Sunday to propel New York to a 2-0 victory and reward Noah Syndergaard for eight sparkling innings.
The win allowed the Mets to return to the break-even mark at 62-62 as they escaped San Francisco with a split after losing the first two of the four-game set.
Samardzija had retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced, allowing just a walk to Syndergaard in the third, until Curtis Granderson broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the seventh.
Cespedes followed by pouncing on a low splitter and delivering a titanic blast — officially measured at 417 feet — that disappeared into the San Francisco night down the left-field line.
Manager Terry Collins pointed out it didn’t look like a good pitch to hit, prompting a news reporter to say it looked like Cespedes golfed it.
“He golfed it. Good one,’’ Collins said, drawing chuckles. “That was a tee shot.’’
And proof, Cespedes said, that his golf game does not hamper his performance in the sport he’s paid to play. He has maintained it enhances his baseball swing.
“That’s so reporters don’t keep saying that playing golf affects me,’’ he said of the homer outburst. “I’m not going to stop playing, no matter what they say.’’
Furthermore, the Cuban native said the shape of his swing is well suited for hitting low pitches, traditionally a pitcher’s best weapon for keeping the ball in the park. Presumably, that swing works well on the links as well.
“The way Cubans swing is different from the way Americans swing or the Dominicans,’’ Cespedes said. “In Cuba they don’t teach the same way they do here. That’s why it’s said that all Cubans have a long swing. That’s why we can hit the low pitch.’’
The Mets came into the ESPN Sunday night game with a 2-4 mark on their 10-game trip — which continues with three games in St. Louis — and the pitching staff bore most of the blame as it yielded a 7.56 ERA in those six games.
Syndergaard, the game’s hardest-throwing starter, had not been sharp of late, going 1-2 with a 4.86 ERA in three August outings. It was clear early on, though, that both starters were on top of their game, making for a remarkable display of power pitching.
Syndergaard blinked first, allowing an infield single in the fourth for the game’s first hit, but it was one of only two he gave up as he outdueled Samardzija, who lasted seven innings and yielded a mere three hits himself.
“You’re not going to see better stuff than what we had to face tonight,’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had everything working.’’
Syndergaard said he noticed his heart rate had been increasing after he threw a few pitches in a row, so he made a point of taking a deep breath before continuing to go after the hitters.
In the process, he breathed new life into the Mets’ flagging playoff hopes — they’re 4½ back of the second wild card — which got a major boost when Cespedes and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera returned from the DL on Friday.
“Cespy and A.C. both have the ability to really shift the momentum of each game,’’ Syndergaard said. “They’re a lot of fun to watch and we’re thankful they’re back.’’
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