Mets activate Torrens from injured list; Alvarez right back in lineup after HBP

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NEW YORK (AP) — Backup catcher Luis Torrens was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Wednesday by the New York Mets as they try to hang onto a playoff spot.

Torrens had been sidelined since Sept. 7 with a bruised right forearm. After going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts Tuesday in his lone rehab game with Triple-A Syracuse, he was available off the bench Wednesday night but didn’t play during a 7-4 loss to the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.

New York remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Arizona for the last National League wild card. Cincinnati and San Francisco are both two games back.

Starting catcher Francisco Alvarez went 1 for 4 with a solo home run. He was right back in the lineup after leaving Tuesday night's 8-3 victory in the eighth inning when he was drilled on the left arm by a 100 mph fastball from Padres rookie Bradgley Rodríguez.

“As soon as it happened last night, when I went out to the field, I thought he was going to be done. It didn't sound good, from the dugout,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game. “He was in pain, big-time. So I knew he was coming out of the ballgame, right? And then before the game's over, he's in the dugout with ice on it and with a smile on his face. I was like, wow.

“They checked him. I was concerned more about the elbow. But then talking to the trainers, it was more like the triceps area. So I was like, all right, I think we caught a break here.”

Mendoza marveled at the toughness and determination displayed by the 23-year-old Alvarez, already playing with a broken pinkie on his left hand and a torn UCL in his right thumb.

“It's amazing,” Mendoza said. “This guy is something else, man.”

To clear a roster spot for Torrens, the Mets optioned catcher Hayden Senger to Syracuse.

Torrens, an excellent defender with a rocket arm, is batting .225 with five home runs, 29 RBIs and a .635 OPS in 87 games.

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