Francisco Alvarez left Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers in the bottom of the sixth inning after hurting his right leg mid at-bat. He fouled off a pitch from reliever Burch Smith, then called for trainers and walked off the field with the count at 2-2.

Alvarez’s exit came after a productive night for the Mets catcher, who had already delivered two hits and scored in the fourth inning on Carson Benge’s go-ahead single. Pinch-hitter Luis Torrens replaced him and worked out a walk.

The injury appeared to happen as Alvarez swung, though he may have first done something to the leg in the second inning when he beat out a double play for an RBI fielder’s choice. By that point, he had doubled in his second at-bat and helped keep the Mets in front.

The timing matters because Alvarez had entered the night batting.236 with a.696 OPS, along with four home runs and nine RBI. He also had a seven-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, making the strong start against Detroit a possible sign he was beginning to settle in again before the inning ended abruptly.

What happened next was not clear from the field, and no diagnosis was specified. For the Mets, the immediate question is how much time they may have to manage without a catcher who had been contributing at the plate and was already a part of Tuesday night’s offense before the injury stopped his game.