PHOENIX — Daniel Murphy hit a chopper toward shortstop in the third inning and sprinted out of the box, his legs churning, his jersey flapping. It was a routine baseball play, the kind that happen every day, the kind a youth coach might show his team as an example of how even All-Stars hustle. But Murphy eased up as he neared first base.
The Mets initially lost David Wright in April when he pulled his hamstring stealing second. They lost Travis d’Arnaud when a pitch happened to strike his wrist. And now they could lose Murphy, who left Thursday’s game after that at-bat with what was said to be tightness in his left quadriceps.