It spoke volumes about Brett Baty’s progression as a baseball player that when Carlos Mendoza looked to shake up his lineup for Wednesday’s series finale at Fenway Park, the Mets’ manager chose to keep Baty in his starting nine.

It was his second consecutive night with a home run and came after Carlos Mendoza said he won’t force Baty into the lineup, even as he tries to get the infielder playing time following his recent call-up from Triple-A Syracuse due to Jesse Winker’s stint on the injured list.

Right-hander Paul Blackburn (knee inflammation) will make his next start Friday night with Double-A Binghamton in Hartford, and will likely make one more after that before the Mets activate him off the injured list. The club wants to build him up to be able to take on a starter’s workload, and would like to see him reach a 75-pitch threshold.

The New York Mets entered Tuesday night's game against the Boston Red Sox in their worst season stretch. Last week, they struggled to produce against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, managing only six runs in three games.