Mets discover baby raccoon in clubhouse weight room

NEW YORK -- The Mets arrived at Citi Field on Sunday aiming to snap Los Angeles Dodgers ace Zack Greinke's 43 2/3-inning scoreless streak. But first they had to deal with an unwanted visitor in the clubhouse weight room.

The intruder -- a baby raccoon, according to reliever Bobby Parnell -- was docile and cooperative and willingly entered a cage.

Yes, the Mets had a cage on hand.

"I guess they have a problem," Parnell said with a laugh.

This wasn't the first time the Mets had an animal in the clubhouse.

In 2012, after then-Mets closer Frank Francisco labeled the Yankees "chickens" and created a tabloid back-page headline, fellow reliever Tim Byrdak purchased a live chicken in Chinatown for $8 and let it loose in the clubhouse. The team named the bird Little Jerry Seinfeld.

"Yeah, but that was intentional," manager Terry Collins said Sunday.

Little Jerry Seinfeld eventually was given to a sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. The Mets said later Sunday that the as-yet-unnamed raccoon had been released in a non-populated area of Queens.