After playing six innings for the Brooklyn Cyclones yesterday, Jose Reyes said what every Mets fan was hoping to hear: He will be back in his customary leadoff spot tonight at Citi Field against the Cardinals.
“The plan is to play [tonight],” he said. “Everything went good, so I feel happy about it.”
Reyes, who has been out since July 3 with a strained left hamstring, looked fine wearing his usual No. 7, hitting leadoff and playing shortstop for the Cyclones in their 11-5 loss to the Lowell Spinners. He went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and cleanly fielded the only ball that came to him.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson was in attendance to watch his star player make his only rehab appearance before rejoining the big league club.
Manager Terry Collins, speaking before last night’s game against the Marlins, said he expected Reyes to be in the lineup tonight, but he plans to monitor Reyes’ innings more closely to keep him from wearing down as the season progresses.
In his first at-bat yesterday, Reyes flew out to center, and he ended the third inning with a hard groundout to second.
In his final at-bat, Reyes led off the bottom of the sixth inning by blasting a 1-2 pitch to deep center, over the head of the center fielder. Reyes moved to third on a groundout by designated hitter Danny Muno and scored on bloop single to short left field by outfielder Charley Thurber.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t think it was going to go that far, so I’ll take a double,” Reyes said. After pausing, he added with a smile, “I’ll save the triple for tomorrow.”
Reyes’ action in the field came in the top of the third, when he cleanly fielded a grounder and threw to first to end the inning.