LEADING OFF: Mets, Yankees having painful road trips

A look at what's happening around the majors on Tuesday:

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BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE

Both teams from New York are away from home this week and each one is having a painful road trip.

After arriving in Atlanta, the Mets placed outfielder Michael Conforto and second baseman Jeff McNeil on the 10-day injured list Monday with strained hamstrings. Both players were hurt in Sunday’s loss at Tampa Bay.

“We’re taking a week-to-week approach with both of these guys,” manager Luis Rojas said.

Then starter Taijuan Walker exited early against the Braves with tightness in his left side, and outfielder Kevin Pillar was hit square in the face by a pitch. Blood poured from Pillar’s nose in a frightening scene, but he walked off the field under his own power.

The Mets already have ace starter Jacob deGrom, outfielder Brandon Nimmo and third baseman J.D. Davis on the IL. Valuable reliever Seth Lugo was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL. recovering from right side tightness.

Meanwhile, the Yankees put slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Friday, before their series opener at Texas because of a left quadriceps strain. In addition, reliever Zack Britton had a potential setback in his recovery from elbow surgery.

Stanton was held out of all three games during a weekend series in Baltimore. The 2017 NL MVP is hitting .282 with nine homers and 24 RBIs in his 33 games this season.

“Hopeful that, especially when we can backdate a few days, that coming out of the off day we’ll be all right, and hopefully just put this behind us entirely,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “As much as he wants to be out there, I think he also realized that if it’s something he pushed through, it could...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-Mets-Yankees-having-painful-road-16184091.php