NEW YORK -- In a gut punch to the streaking Mets, right-hander Kodai Senga will likely miss the remainder of the regular season with a left calf strain, manager Carlos Mendoza announced Saturday.
Mendoza said Senga, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday, suffered a "high-grade" strain. He said it's "fair to say" Senga won't pitch again during the regular season but didn't rule out the possibility of Senga returning to pitch in the postseason, should the Mets qualify.
"If we get to see him pitch, that means we're in a good position, right?" Mendoza said. "It's hard to put a timetable here, especially talking about a calf. Those are tricky. So we could be looking at eight, 10 weeks before he's a big league pitcher [stretched out to] 85 pitches. So it's hard to predict what we're dealing with."
Senga, 31, suffered the injury running off the mound to give his infielders room to field an infield popup in the sixth inning of the Mets' 8-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday. He immediately grabbed his left calf, dropping to the ground in pain, and was quickly pulled from the game.
The right-hander was cruising until that point, holding the Braves to two runs on two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. His fastball touched 98 mph. His trademark forkball induced five whiffs. He threw 73 pitches, six fewer than he tossed in his fourth and final rehab start, and looked like the All-Star hurler he was last year.
"He goes out there and has a game like that, and then for him to go down that way, sucks," Mendoza said. "But you just got to keep going. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us."
Senga's performance and a seven-run third inning fueled the Mets' fifth straight win and Braves' sixth consecutive loss, a combination that vaulted New York into the top National League wild-card spot and second place in the NL East over Atlanta. It's a remarkable development considering the Mets were 10 games behind the Braves and in disarray in late May.
They've done it almost entirely without Senga, who was shut down with a shoulder injury less than a week after reporting to spring training. His return was prolonged by an injury setback and his dissatisfaction with his mechanics, leaving the Mets to navigate the first four months of the season without their projected ace.
Senga's return was supposed to double as a pivotal deadline addition to a middling starting rotation after he posted a 2.98 ERA and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season. Instead, it was a 5⅓-inning cameo.
"It's a huge blow," Mendoza said. "But at the same time, we got to this point without him. It sucks for him, for all of us. The way I see it is we've been through a lot, and if we get to see him pitch against his year, we're in a good spot. Hopefully, that's the case. We only got two months so, yeah, it's hard for him. We're feeling for him because he's been through a lot the whole year."
In corresponding moves Saturday, the Mets optioned right-hander Eric Orze to Triple-A Syracuse, called up righty Tylor Megill and activated Ryne Stanek, who arrived in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Friday.
Adding a starter before Tuesday's trade deadline isn't out of the question, though the front office's focus has been on addressing a beleaguered bullpen with the highest ERA in the majors since May 1. The Mets acquired veteran relievers Phil Maton and Stanek this month. They could continue shopping in the relief department -- and venture elsewhere.
Owner Steve Cohen's willingness to add payroll could help, but there will be plenty of competition to land a starter of Senga's caliber in a market thin on front-line starting pitchers and filled with contenders looking for one.