Kodai Senga's electric season debut ends with injury concern after premature exit for Mets

NEW YORK — For a little more than five innings on Friday night, Mets fans were enraptured by Kodai Senga's return to the mound.

The home crowd's enthusiasm was buoyed by an explosive offensive display by the Mets, including three home runs in a seven-run third inning.

But all that energy ground to a momentary halt on an infield pop-up off the bat of the Braves' Austin Riley with one out in the sixth inning. On the play, Senga tumbled to the grass in a heap and grabbed at his calf before limping off the field.

The Mets announced that Senga had been removed with a left calf strain. Senga's injury dimmed an otherwise electric return from the injured list as he struck out nine across 5⅓ innings while allowing two earned runs on two hits and one walk in the Mets' 8-4 victory over the Braves in front of 34,673 fans on Friday night at Citi Field.

"Watching him pitch, the fastball, command of his pitches, the splitter, he dominated today," Carlos Mendoza said. "Yeah, you hate to see him go down like that, especially after what he’s been through the whole year. But people will step up if he’s down. We just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with."

The Mets were 10 games back of the Braves for second-place in the division when they reached an inflection point with their players-only meeting on May 30. Now, they've stormed all the way back.

With their fifth straight win to improve to 55-48, the Mets overtook the Braves (54-48) for the top spot in the NL Wild Card race. The Mets are now 5-3 against the Braves this season.

"Ever since we kind of just said, ‘Hey, no one expects us to do anything. You can ask everyone in New York and they’re expecting us to fall out of this whole race. Let’s just go out there and have fun,'" J.D. Martinez said. "I feel like we bonded a little bit more that day. It just started snowballing."

Kodai Senga's injury

The ugly scene after Senga came up hobbled left questions about how long it would be before hewould be back on the mound. Mendoza said that Senga will undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.

Before Senga headed for the dugout, his Mets teammates hugged their ace starting pitcher. Senga acknowledged each of his teammates on the diamond.

The freak injury came in Senga's first game since returning from the 60-day injured list and five months rehabbing from a shoulder strain suffered early in spring training back in February.

"I worry about him a lot because we want to see that more consistent," Francisco Alvarez said. "I want him on the team. I want him healthy."

Senga exited with the Mets holding a six-run lead over their National League East rivals in the sixth.

The two runs against Senga came on a two-run home run from Adam Duvall on a hanging cutter in the top of the second inning. After the Braves took a 2-0 lead, Senga proceeded to allow one more baserunner on a walk across the rest of his outing. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Mendoza, who was watching Senga live for the first time, and the rest of the Mets got a chance to see just how big of an impact the ace could make.

"Pretty impressive. Nasty. The life on the fastball, it’s an easy 96 (mph) and there’s 98 on tap when he needs to," Mendoza said. "The splitter, the cutter, there’s so much movement on his pitches. The power of the fastball is pretty impressive."

Homer-happy Mets help secure win

Meanwhile, the Mets provided the run support to line Senga up for his first win of the season.

Facing Braves right-hander Charlie Morton, Martinez belted an opposite-field grand slam after Tyrone Taylor reached on an error, Francisco Lindor was plunked and Brandon Nimmo drew a walk.

Then, Mark Vientos added a two-run home run to left field and Alvarez knocked a solo home run off the second deck in left to give the Mets a 7-2 lead after three innings.

"I think the guys did a great job just not chasing around the zone and getting him in the zone," Martinez said. "Obviously he walked some guys and got some guys on base and I think it was a collective team effort. Everyone making sure they weren’t chasing around and really key-holing him."

The big frame ran Morton from the game after 2⅔ innings. Vientos added a bases-loaded walk off Daysel Hernandez to give the Mets an 8-2 advantage in the fourth.

Now, the Mets likely face an immediate reality without one of their top starting pitchers. But it's the familiarity with similar adversity, losing Edwin Diaz for a stretch with a suspension and injury or relievers Brooks Raley and Drew Smith for the season, that gives the players confidence they can keep the vibes high moving forward.

"He’s a huge piece and the way he threw the ball today was amazing. It was exciting," Martinez said. "Obviously, we hope he can come back as quick as he can. I personally feel like everyone’s just like, ‘Next guy up.’ I feel like that’s kind of what it’s been like all year for us."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Kodai Senga's electric season debut ends with injury concern after premature exit for Mets