Edwin Díaz fired a first-pitch fastball to J.T. Realmuto in Wednesday’s 10th inning and felt his left hip “lock up.”
After trying to walk off the tightness, he returned to the mound and couldn’t lift the leg enough to become set for his delivery. It prompted the Mets closer to signal the dugout that he was in duress.
Díaz departed with what manager Carlos Mendoza termed as a left hip cramp, leaving Max Kranick to get the final two outs, without an inherited runner scoring from third, in the 4-3 victory over the Phillies at Citi Field.
Díaz said he underwent a strength test after the game.
“The strength test, everything was good — we nailed that part, and I was feeling way better after,” Díaz said.
After pitching a scoreless ninth, Díaz returned to the mound for the 10th and struck out Kyle Schwarber. It marked the first time this season Díaz recorded more than three outs in an outing.
But the right-hander allowed a single to Nick Castellanos that allowed automatic runner Bryce Harper to score the go-ahead run. Kranick walked Realmuto and allowed a single to Alec Bohm before getting two outs without the run scoring.
“[Kranick] came in for that situation, it was tough, and got the outs and gave us a chance to win,” Díaz said.
Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez were set to play a potential final rehab game for Triple-A Syracuse before joining the Mets on Friday in Washington. McNeil and Alvarez have been rehabbing from an oblique strain and surgery for a broken hamate bone, respectively, since spring training.
Paul Blackburn was scratched from his scheduled rehab start for Double-A Binghamton due to a stomach virus, according to Mendoza. The right-hander is rehabbing from right knee inflammation.
The Mets went 10-0 on a homestand in April 2015 that included games against the Phillies, Braves and Marlins. It’s the only other homestand in franchise history of at least seven games (aside from the one just completed) in which the Mets were perfect.
David Peterson kept the Phillies in the ballpark, extending the Mets’ streak to 12 games in which a starting pitcher didn’t allow a home run.