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          New York Mets

          Juan Lagares gets day off against difficult righty

          • Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff WriterJun 13, 2015, 02:14 PM ET
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              Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
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          NEW YORK -- Juan Lagares has nursed a balky right elbow as well as a strain in his right armpit area for much of the season. Still, New York Mets manager Terry Collins said Lagares sitting Saturday's game against Atlanta Braves is just a routine day off.

          Rookie Darrell Ceciliani, who has been productive as a pinch hitter, will start in center field.

          Collins cited Braves starter Shelby Miller's numbers against right-handed batters in part for selecting Saturday to sit Lagares. Miller, whose 1.84 ERA ranks second in the National League, has held righties to a .152 average this season. Lefties are hitting a not-exactly-robust .227 against Miller.

          Lagares had started 17 straight games and 26 of the last 27.

          Ceciliani, 24, is 3-for-11 with a double and an RBI as a pinch hitter, beginning with his major league debut on May 19. He singled and scored off the bench in Friday's series opener.

          "I know he's a good outfielder," Collins said about Ceciliani. "Let's not compare him to Juan Lagares. Let's not go that far. But we know everybody needs a day. Juan's played every game but one. I thought today would be a day. We've got still a long stretch to go."