PHILADELPHIA — Now the Mets know what they were missing.
David Wright wasted all of one pitch Friday night before making nearly as dramatic a return as the Mets could have hoped for in such a low-stakes spot.
“It was just fun to be back out there,” Wright said after his two-run, first-inning homer, in his first at-bat since Aug. 2, helped the Mets to a 6-4 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
“You feel like when you’re hurt, you’re not really part of the team, not part of that camaraderie. To get out there and get those competitive juices flowing again, that was fun.”
Wright, who missed seven weeks with a strained right hamstring, finished 2-for-5 Friday. The homer was No. 221 of his career, moving him ahead of Mike Piazza for second place on the Mets’ all-time list. Darryl Strawberry is the club’s all-time leader with 252 homers.
In addition, Wright holds the distinction of having the most home runs (18) by a visiting player in this ballpark’s history.
The Mets had already scored a run in the first inning on Daniel Murphy’s RBI single when Wright came to the plate and hammered a 1-0 pitch from Cole Hamels over the right-field fence.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-3) got the win after allowing four earned runs on four hits and three walks over six innings.
Before the game, Wright wasn’t about to offer an apology for returning from the disabled list to play meaningless games.
When a reporter asked Wright about returning for the final week, the Mets captain interrupted and issued a correction: It would actually be 10 games.
“This is what I do,” Wright said. “This is what I love to do, and if I’m healthy enough to play, I’m going to play. Therefore I’m playing. That is about as simple as it gets.”
Manager Terry Collins originally planned to chart out Wright’s playing time for the Mets’ final 10 games, but said he will evaluate Wright on a daily basis. The manager’s hope was Wright could be in the lineup for eight of the final 10 games.
“I just want to see how he feels [Saturday],” Collins said. “Because you don’t realize the beating you take until you play nine innings, and the next day you’re going to be pretty stiff.”
Wright admitted he was sore.
“These games are long,” he said. “I forgot how long it is. But all and all it was a positive day and a lot of good things happened, so it was nice.”
Wright missed two months in 2011 with a stress fracture in his lower back, but durability hasn’t been a significant issue over his career.
The difference in this comeback was Wright didn’t have the benefit of rehab games, as the minor league affiliates concluded their seasons earlier this month.
“The tough part now is to go from zero to a hundred,” Wright said. “At least with the back thing, I got a chance to play in some rehab games, kind of get my feet back under me. Now it’s just kind of a zero to a hundred.
“This is probably the first time other than coming into spring training where you don’t get in game situations before playing in games.”
Wright said moving ahead of Piazza on the club’s all-time homer list was special, but hitting the 31 he needs to catch Strawberry could take a while.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it this year,” Wright said.
How about next year?
“It’s been a few years since I’ve hit 30 homers,” he said. “I hope. It would be a pretty good year if I can do that.”