Jason Bay is “astronomically” better and hoping to begin working out within the next few days.
After undergoing a battery of tests yesterday, the Mets outfielder was at Citi Field before the 4-3 loss to the Yankees and said symptoms from the concussion he sustained nine days ago as he hit the left-field fence have dramatically subsided.
“I feel probably 1,000 times better at this point than I thought I was going to a week ago,” Bay said.
He has responded quicker from this concussion than the one he sustained in 2010, because the Mets were quicker to recognize the severity of the injury. Two years ago, Bay’s head hit the left field fence at Dodger Stadium, but he played the next two games before flying home with the team.
“I didn’t know any better because I didn’t feel that bad and I think that really got me behind,” said Bay, who ultimately missed the final two months of the 2010 season. “This time somebody drove me home and I kind of had a week at home of really relaxation and really turned the corner after five, six, seven days.”
Bay is anxious to see how he responds to physical exertion and did not rule out the possibility of returning to the Mets by the All-Star break.
* Ivan Nova still has not lost on the road in over a year, even though he left in the sixth down by three runs after giving up a run-scoring single to Chris Young.
”My bad decision was the pitch to the pitcher,” Nova said. “Me and Larry [Rothschild, the pitching coach] talked about that before the game. I know that the only pitch he can hit, but I was trying to get ahead with my fastball. It didn’t go the way I was thinking.”
But Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez homered in the seventh to get Nova off the hook and some nifty work out of the bullpen helped Nova stay undefeated in his last 16 starts away from Yankee Stadium.
The 5 2/3-inning outing was Nova’s shortest since he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings in Baltimore on May 14. And it came after three straight masterful starts from the right-hander, whose record remains 9-2.Bay, who is hitting .187 with four homers and six RBIs in 22 games, said he would like to be more cautious in the outfield, but it’s not his nature.
And he didn’t second-guess himself for chasing Jay Bruce’s ball to the fence in that game against the Reds. Bruce ended with an inside-the-park homer after Bay crumpled to the ground without the ball.
“Just the effort part of it I think that was the right play,” Bay said. “I would do it again.”
* Manager Terry Collins kept Scott Hairston in the lineup in left field against right-hander Ivan Nova. Hairston was hitting .342 against lefties, but only .190 against right-handers. He went 0-for-4, reaching on errors in his first two at-bats.
* Ike Davis was a late scratch from the Mets lineup because of possible food poisoning. Daniel Murphy (1-for-4) shifted to first base and Jordany Valdespin (1-for-5) got the start at second base.
* Robinson Cano (0-for-3, walk) has 11 home runs in 28 games since May 22.
“I’m feeling as good as I have all year,” Cano said. “But I can still get better.”
That’s especially true in clutch situations, since he had just nine hits in 62 at bats with runners in scoring position.
He left two more runners in scoring position, flying out to end the first and popping up to end the sixth.