NEW YORK -- Backup catcher Luis Torrens was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Wednesday by the New York Mets as they try to hang on to 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 but did not play in Wednesday night's 7-4 loss to the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.
New York remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last National League wild card. Cincinnati and San Francisco are both two games back.
Starting catcher Francisco Alvarez 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 Rodriguez. Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday night.
"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 pregame. "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, was batting .225 with five home runs, 29 RBIs and a .635 OPS in 87 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.