NEW YORK -- Jenrry Mejia felt some jitters upon entering a New York Mets game for the first time in more than nine months on Sunday.
Inheriting a baserunner and two-run lead from Jonathon Niese with two outs in the seventh, Mejia issued three straight balls to Chris Owings. He ultimately rallied to coax a full-count flyout. It was the lone batter Mejia faced in the Mets' 5-3 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which completed a series sweep to conclude the first half.
"The first three pitches I was a little bit nervous," Mejia said.
Mejia, who opened the season on the DL with elbow inflammation, was activated Tuesday in San Francisco after serving an 80-game PED suspension. He had to wait five days to get into a game.
"I understand, because I was out like two, 2½ months," Mejia said about the delay getting him in a game. "So now I came back and I had to wait for my time. Today was my time."
Although Bobby Parnell is not pitching with the same velocity as before Tommy John surgery, his return from the DL and now Mejia's activation from suspension gives manager Terry Collins two credible righty arms to lead into closer Jeurys Familia. And that's plenty given the length and quality Collins is getting from his starting pitching.
"All of a sudden everybody broke down and Jenrry got suspended and now it left it to Familia and some young rookies," Collins said about spring training. "And right now the bullpen is coming around. Jenrry was nervous today. I'm sure everybody saw that. But we're going to get better. If we can get to the big guy at the end, we're going to win some games."
Said Mejia: "I feel very, very happy."
