http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/sports/baseball/mets-beat-minnesota-twins-gabriel-ynoa.html 2016-09-18 23:47:30 Who’s the New Guy Pitching for the Mets? Doesn’t Matter. They Keep Winning. Gabriel Ynoa made his first major league start and helped keep the Mets rolling in their hunt for a wild-card spot in the playoffs. === Shortly after the At first, some members of the news media mistook Collins’s answer — Ynoa, in reference to rookie Gabriel Ynoa — for Noah, as in Noah Syndergaard, the lone standing pitcher from the Mets’ stable of young talented arms they envisioned leading them down the stretch and into the playoffs. Somehow, those postseason aspirations have not faded without deGrom, Steven Matz, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler, and the Mets continued to chug along and improve their wild-card standing with a 3-2 win over the “Certainly we are very disappointed it’s not Jake deGrom, but you know what, Gabriel Ynoa, this is his chance,” Collins said before the game. “This is his chance to say, ‘Look, I can pitch in the big leagues.’ Here you go. Here’s your opportunity to show us.” Making his first major league start, Ynoa, who is about 4 inches and 35 pounds lighter than the statuesque Syndergaard, made a sturdy impression, albeit with a shortened platform. Ynoa gave up one run in four and two-third innings, striking out eight. Collins pulled him after 76 pitches. Collins said Saturday that he was ready to use a plethora of pitchers to get through Sunday’s game, and Ynoa was not expected to go the distance. But even against the Twins, who have the worst record in baseball at 55-95, Ynoa was able to distinguish himself with a sharp sinker. Ynoa, 23, looked as if he could provide a few more innings, but after he allowed a two-out single to Brian Dozier in the fifth, Collins turned to the bullpen. The Mets used five relievers to remain at least tied with the San Francisco Giants for the first wild card and two games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. Michael Conforto went 2 for 4 with two R.B.I. in the cleanup spot, as Collins rested regulars Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera and Curtis Granderson. Lucas Duda, who was activated from the disabled list Saturday after being out since May with a lower back stress fracture, started at first base and went 0 for 2, before being replaced by Cabrera as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning. One of the few starters to not get a day off was Yoenis Cespedes, but he eventually exited the game after the sixth inning with nausea and dizziness. INSIDE PITCH Neil Walker was back in the Mets’ clubhouse after having season-ending surgery earlier this month to repair a herniated disk in his back. Walker expects to begin swinging and throwing in December. Walker, who will be a free agent, has yet to have formal discussions with the Mets about re-signing this offseason. “I’m hopeful that we have positive discussions here, and looking form the outside, this is a very good fit,” Walker said. “This makes a lot of sense, but you never know how other teams evaluate players and things like that, so we’ll see what happens.”