The sun was shining and Kodai Senga was dominating with a comfortable lead in Thursday’s sixth inning.
And then a mostly perfect Mets afternoon at Citi Field got ruined.
Senga, covering first base on a grounder to Pete Alonso, received a high throw and, after landing on the base, grabbed for his right hamstring.
The Mets ace tumbled to the ground, unable to continue in the team’s 4-3 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals.
Senga strained the hamstring, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, and will be placed on the injured list — the team will recall reliever Max Kranick from Triple-A Syracuse, according to an industry source.
the Mets’ game against the Nationals on June 12, 2025.JASON SZENES/NY POST
Senga is scheduled for an MRI exam on Friday that will determine the injury’s severity.
“You don’t want him to miss any time, not just for us but for him because he’s worked so hard to get back here and be in a good position,” Brandon Nimmo said, referring to the injuries that limited Senga to one regular-season start last year.
Senga, who was unavailable to speak with reporters, exonerated Alonso, telling the first baseman and manager that he felt the hamstring tighten a step before leaping for the high throw.
“I still feel awful,” Alonso said.
A starting rotation that began the day overfilled — Paul Blackburn, the team’s sixth starter has been working from the bullpen — has lost Senga, whose season was on an All-Star trajectory.
The Mets have other reinforcements nearing, with Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea in the midst of minor league rehab assignments, so perhaps losing Senga for a stretch won’t be severe.
But losing a pitcher who threw 5 ²/₃ shutout innings on this day to lower his MLB-leading ERA to 1.47 doesn’t help the cause.
Senga allowed one hit and one walk with five strikeouts.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us,” Mendoza said. “We have got guys that are coming and the guys that are healthy now, they will continue to step up and we feel good about our chances with the guys we have got in that room.”
Senga missed four months to begin last season before pitching his first game in late July.
But the fun lasted only 5 ¹/₃ innings before he departed with a calf strain — sustained as he shuffled from the mound on a pop-up — and was sidelined into October.
He returned to pitch, at less than full strength, in the NLDS and NLCS.
“I told him he’s going to be an important part of this team when he gets back,” Mendoza said. “The main thing is waiting for the results, seeing what we’re dealing with and then we’ll attack it. He’s a competitor and it sucks he’s going through it again, but he will get back.”
The Mets, who won their sixth straight game, have sweeps in three of their past four series.
They will begin a three-game series against Tampa Bay on Friday.
Jeff McNeil’s torrid stretch continued with his fourth homer in five games to give the Mets a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto walked in the inning before McNeil cleared the right field fence for his seventh homer this season.
McNeil’s power surge included two homers on Sunday in Colorado.
He opened the home stand by delivering a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning against the Nationals.
Nimmo’s third homer in two games extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth.
After Senga departed in the sixth, Tyrone Taylor’s circus catch racing to right-center robbed Luis García Jr. of an RBI double.
Taylor fully extended airborne and caught the ball before belly flopping on the warning track.
José Castillo, Huascar Brazobán, Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz combined to work the final 3 ¹/₃ innings.
Stanek was charged with three runs in the ninth, one of which was unearned because of Francisco Alvarez’s passed ball.
Díaz recorded the final out with the tying and go-ahead runs at third and second base, respectively.
“It’s really coming down to playing the game the right way and having the right attitude and culture here,” Nimmo said. “You never know what is going to happen until that last out is made. Things can turn quickly and I am really proud of the guys for bouncing back and winning that game.”