Jeff McNeil was on the bench to begin the Mets game on Thursday against the Giants because Mickey Callaway said the team doesn’t want to push him too much coming off his injured list stint.
McNeil still found a way to contribute, with two hits and two RBIs.
With the Mets trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on second and third with one out, Callaway decided to use McNeil as a pinch hitter for Amed Rosario.
McNeil flipped a little bloop into left center field to tie the game at 3-3. The 27-year-old would add another RBI single in the next inning to stretch the Mets lead to 7-3, and make it so the Mets didn’t have to use closer Edwin Diaz.
The versatile McNeil is now hitting .345/.423/.469 on the season in 201 plate appearances. He has 40 multi-hit games through the first 112 games of his career, one short of the Mets record set by Jose Reyes.
