ST. LOUIS -- Though Mets outfielder Jay Bruce did not feel well enough to return to the starting lineup on Thursday against the Cardinals, as he originally intended after leaving Wednesday night's game with a right calf cramp, he does not expect the issue to linger. Bruce simply pushed his targeted return back one day, to Friday.
"I feel better," Bruce said before the series finale at Busch Stadium. "The soreness is out of there some, but the tightness is still there when I push off. I was shooting for today. Now, I'm shooting for tomorrow. It's not going to be something that lingers, I don't think."
The injury, Bruce said, dates to a ball that he fouled off his right shin last weekend in San Francisco. Residual swelling turned into cramping in his calf, forcing him out of Wednesday's game.
Overall this season, Bruce is batting .248 with 27 home runs in 118 games. But he has slumped since arriving in New York on Aug. 1, hitting .169 with just two homers in 21 games.