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Mets' Yoenis Céspedes Homers in First Game Since 2018 Season

Mets outfielder and designated hitter Yoenis Céspedes homered Friday in his first game with the team in more than two calendar years.

Ben Pickman

Mets outfielder and designated hitter Yoenis Céspedes homered Friday in his first game with the team in more than two calendar years.

Céspedes's home run to left field came with one out in the seventh inning and gave New York a 1-0 lead against the Atlanta Braves.

Opening Day marks Céspedes's first game since July 20, 2018, against the Yankees.

That July 20 game was the first time Céspedes had played since May 13 of that season. Remarkably, he hit home runs in both of those games, too, giving him a bizarre three-game homer streak over 803 days.

Last May, the Mets announced that Céspedes suffered right ankle fractures in a "violent fall" on his ranch in Port St. Lucie, Fl. New details reported by the New York Post this past January, however, said that Céspedes was injured on his ranch stepping into a hole after an interaction with a wild boar.

At the time of the boar incident, he was already on the injured list recovering from surgeries on both feet that took place in 2018.

At one point last season, the Mets were attempting to withhold Céspedes’s 2019 pay and were considering an attempt to make the remainder of his pact a non-guaranteed contract. This past December, the outfielder's base salary for this year was cut dramatically from its original $29.5 million as part of an amended contract with the team that avoided a grievance hearing.

Céspedes, a two-time All-Star, agreed to a four-year, $110 million contract in Dec. 2016. But prior to Friday, he had played in only 119 games with the club, with 81 of those coming in 2017.

The Mets went 86-76 last season, finishing third in the NL East.

New York held on Friday to beat the Braves, 1-0.

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Ben Pickman
BEN PICKMAN

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