NEW YORK -- Yoenis Cespedes is just fine, and so are the New York Mets.
After winning three games in a row while Cespedes sat out because of a bruise on his upper right leg, the Mets were trailing in the seventh inning Tuesday. But when they needed him most, Cespedes was there for them: His pinch-hit three-run home run in the seventh inning tied the score, and the Mets went on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3.
Manager Terry Collins said before the game that Cespedes might have been able to start, but that he held him out of the lineup for an extra day just to make sure he's all right. Doing it that way also meant Collins had Cespedes available for a pinch-hit appearance at a spot of the manager's choosing, and that spot showed up with two on and one out in the seventh.
The Mets had been frustrated all night by Reds starter Brandon Finnegan, only the second left-handed starter they have faced this season. They had only one hit in the first five innings and had gone 1-for-15 with runners on base.
Then Juan Lagares walked with one out in the seventh, and Kevin Plawecki followed with a single. Reds manager Bryan Price went to mound, but perhaps fearing his shaky bullpen, he left Finnegan in the game.
That gave Collins the opening he needed, and he sent Cespedes to the plate. The result was a laser of a home run that barely cleared the left-field fence. It was Cespedes' sixth home run of the season, his 23rd in 73 games as a Met and his first in 10 at-bats as a major league pinch hitter.
When Curtis Granderson followed with a triple and David Wright singled him home, the Mets were on the way to their fifth straight win, their 10th in the last 12 games.
They'll go for another one Wednesday, but Collins doesn't figure to have Cespedes available to pinch hit. Instead, he should be back in the lineup.
