Mets' Senga could rejoin rotation next weekend in Kansas City

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets ace Kodai Senga could rejoin the rotation next weekend in the final series before the All-Star break, a little over a month after straining his right hamstring.

Senga allowed four runs — three earned — and six hits in 3 2/3 innings during Saturday’s minor league injury rehabilitation start for Double-A Binghamton at Hartford. Senga struck out four, walked two and threw 44 of 68 pitches for strikes.

“Physically he feels fine,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday before the Mets concluded their three-game series against the Yankees. “So we’ll see how today, tomorrow, how they go and hopefully he’s making a start for us next time.”

Senga was injured covering first base on a grounder by CJ Abrams when he made a leaping catch on Pete Alonso’s throw June 12 against Washington.

Senga is 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts this season for the Mets, whose starters had a major league-best 2.78 ERA at the time of his injury. The Mets lost 14 of 17 after Senga’s injury, then won four straight with a patchwork rotation that included two openers and Justin Hagenman's first big league start.

“He’s a big part of this team,” Mendoza said of Senga. “He’s a big part of the rotation. For us to be able to get him back this quickly (is big) because we thought when he went down, in my head I was more like after the All-Star break and then for him to be in play for us now before we go into the All-Star break is huge for us.”

Mendoza also said Sean Manaea may start Sunday in Kansas City. Manaea is slated to make his fifth rehab start and sixth overall appearance Tuesday.

Manaea has been sidelined since spring training with a strained right oblique and had a rehab outing pushed back because of elbow discomfort to a bone chip. The left-hander received a cortisone shot and threw 60 pitches in three innings Wednesday for Binghamton at Hartford.

The Mets have 13 pitchers on the injured list and entered Sunday with the fourth-best rotation ERA at 3.38.

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