y and hasnt done any baseball activities, Hinch | Forum

NEW YORK -- Steven Matz is tentatively scheduled to return to the New York Mets injury-ravaged rotation Friday night. Vladimir Konstantinov Jersey .The left-hander threw a bullpen Wednesday at Citi Field, and manager Terry Collins said he is confident Matz will be able to start against Philadelphia. But before committing to him, the team will wait to see how Matz feels Thursday.If he does take the ball, the rookie will likely be limited to around 50-60 pitches.He hasnt pitched in a month, so weve got to be very careful with how we approach it, Collins said.Right-hander Gabriel Ynoa would be in line to follow Matz against the Phillies. Ynoa made his first major league start Sunday versus Minnesota, allowing one run and striking out eight in 4 2/3 innings.Matz has not pitched since Aug. 14 because of tightness in his left shoulder. He initially was penciled in to return Sept. 1, but was scratched after feeling discomfort when playing catch a day after he threw off a mound.Matz had been pitching with a bone spur in his elbow before going on the disabled list last month. He is 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA in 22 starts this season for the Mets, tied with San Francisco and St. Louis for the two NL wild cards.In another injury update, New York starter Jacob deGrom had surgery Wednesday to reposition the ulnar nerve in his right elbow and is expected to be ready for spring training next year, the team said.Right-hander Matt Harvey also is out for the season following surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, and Zack Wheeler never made it back this year from Tommy John surgery in March 2015.WHERES WILMER?Collins indicated he is very concerned about infielder Wilmer Flores, who remained out of the lineup with a sore right wrist.Flores has not played since Sept. 10, when he was injured in a home-plate collision at Atlanta. Hes received two injections, the second one on Monday, but still was unable to swing a bat Wednesday, according to Collins.Productive rookie T.J. Rivera started at second base again Wednesday night during a 4-3 loss to Atlanta.Flores is not expected back in time to play Thursday night against Philadelphia lefty Adam Morgan -- a major disappointment for the Mets. Flores is hitting .340 with 11 home runs in 100 at-bats vs. left-handers this season, including .393 with 25 RBI in his last 61 at-bats. His .710 slugging percentage against southpaws is the best mark in the majors among players with at least 85 at-bats.Not to mention, Flores hit a grand slam off Morgan on Aug. 26.BRUCE ON THE BENCHSlumping right fielder Jay Bruce was left out of the starting lineup for the third time in four games, one night after the three-time All-Star was pulled for a pinch hitter in a crucial situation.That move came with a left-handed reliever on the mound. This time, the left-handed-hitting Bruce was benched with rookie right-hander Ryan Weber starting for the Braves. Alejandro De Aza played center field, bumping Curtis Granderson back to right.Bruce struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. Before the game, he had little reaction to Collins decision to sit him.The results are just not there, and this is a results game, Bruce said. I still plan on being a big part of this hunt for the World Series here. This is just a blip.Acquired from Cincinnati at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, Bruce is batting only .175 with four homers and 11 RBI in 41 games with the Mets. He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats and stuck in a 3-for-39 slide. Yet his 29 home runs and 91 RBI still ranked 10th in the NL in both categories.Obviously, no one likes being booed, Bruce said. But I understand that theyre passionate. They expect a certain level of execution and performance out of me. Tyler Bertuzzi Jersey .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Authentic . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. http:///...ndan-shanahan-jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. HOUSTON -- Ian Desmond keeps coming up with big hits for the Texas Rangers.Sunday was no different.Desmond hit a tiebreaking single in the 11th inning and the Rangers got past Houston 5-3, beating the Astros for the 11th time in 13 meetings this season.For a guy like Desmond, whos had some challenges here lately but had been so big for us all year long in those type of situations to come up with the big hit for us was a great day for him, Texas manager Jeff Banister said.Texas took two of three in the weekend series and extended its AL West lead to 7 1/2 games over the Astros.This is the type of game good teams need to win, Banister said. This is a group of guys that are going to continue fighting. Theyre engaged. We came out on the top of it today. Things worked out for us today.Houston went 2-5 on its and has lost eight of its last 10 games.Anytime I leave this podium after a loss I hate it, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. I dont care what teams on the other side, I dont care what division theyre in, what league theyre in and how the loss happened.Clearly games against the Rangers matter when theyre ahead of us, they matter when theyre behind us, theyre in our division. So Im not naive, I know that those games are going to be magnified. You get into August and were in a playoff race, these games get a little heightened awareness, he said.After Shin-Soo Choo led off the 11th with a double, Desmond followed with a single against Chris Devenski (0-4).Desmond is tied for the major league lead with Houstons Carlos Correa with seven go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning or later this season.I just want to make sure I feel good in those situations, and I have, Desmond said.Rougned Odor later hit an RBI double.We were 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position, Banister said. In those types of situations these guys are up there trying to put the best at-bat they can together. We got a little anxious in some of the at-bats and then hit some balls fairly well. We needed that big one and Desmond was able to come through.Matt Bush (5-2) pitched the 10th, then strucck out George Springer with runners on the corners in the 11th. Kris Draper Jersey. Texas starter Yu Darvish pitched seven shutout innings, striking out eight and giving up five hits.Darvish said through a translator the outing was the best he has felt since coming off the 15-day disabled list July 16.Alex Bregman hit an RBI double, and Jose Altuve followed with an RBI single off Jeremy Jeffress to cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 in the eighth.Tony Kemp tied it in the ninth with a single off Sam Dyson that scored pinch-runner Carlos Gomez, who slid around Jonathan Lucroys tag.Lucroy put the Rangers ahead with an RBI double in the fifth. Jurickson Profar hit a two-run double off Ken Giles to extend the lead to 3-0 in the eighth.Kemp had three hits after coming on as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Joe Musgrove allowed one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out six in his first major league start. The right-hander threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in relief in his debut Tuesday.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: OF Carlos Beltran was out of the lineup after leaving Saturdays game with a left quad contusion. He pinch-hit in the 10th and flied out to leave the bases loaded.Astros: OF Colby Rasmus was put on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a cyst in his right ear.Its been bothering him for a while, Hinch said. Clearly, there are some things going on there that we need to look into further. Kemp was recalled from Triple-A Fresno. ... INF Luis Valbuena (right hamstring strain) is progressing slowly and hasnt done any baseball activities, Hinch said.UP NEXTRangers: LHP Cole Hamels (12-3) will start the first of a two-game series in Colorado on Monday. Hamels is second in the AL in ERA at 2.89 and has the lowest road ERA in the AL at 1.90 in 12 road starts.Astros: RHP Collin McHugh (7-8) starts the first of four games in Minnesota on Monday. McHugh allowed a season-high three home runs in his last outing Wednesday against Toronto. ' ' '