Curtis Granderson hits two extra-inning home runs to propel Mets

New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) walks off the field with teammates after they defea …

Learning of a devastating injury only to regain some footing and get a win? Check. Having the backbone of so much success come from unheralded pitchers?

Buxton launched a soaring go-ahead shot in the 11th inning, but then Curtis Granderson hit a tying homer in the 11th and another solo shot with two outs in the 12th, lifting the New York Mets over the Twins 3-2 on Saturday night. The Mets are 8-1 in their last 9 Sunday games and are 10-3 in their last 13 home games while going 9-3 in their last 12 overall. The news seemed to hang over them as they couldn’t mount anything against Twins starter Ervin Santana. Six regulars – Curtis Granderson, Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jay Bruce, James Loney and Rene Rivera – didn’t start after playing in Saturday night’s 12-inning marathon.

The Mets left the bases loaded in the seventh.

That helped preserve the win for righty Erik Goeddel (2-1), who allowed one hit, walked one and struck out three in 1⅓ innings after entering in the fifth, though he uncorked two wild pitches.

Collins wants to see if Conforto can shrug off a disappointing season, one that landed him in the minors, and earn a spot on the postseason roster if the Mets prevail. “They came out tonight knowing they needed to win this game, and they did it”. They now are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the top wild card spot in the National League, with the St. Louis Cardinals a mere two games behind.

The Mets (80-69) improved to a season-high 11 games over.500 and won their 12th out of their last 15 games. Coming on pretty strong as of late, the Mets are looking to open up a little bit of distance between themselves and the Cardinals with the team’s final home stand against the Twins, Atlanta Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies now underway in Citi Field.

“We made a statement about three weeks ago that we’ve just got to take care of our business”.

Major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs in six innings and remained stuck on 15 victories as visiting Milwaukee beat Chicago. He has hit 28 home runs but somehow has only 51 RBIs. Molitor said “it didn’t look too good”. I just talked to him, he said he feels a lot better. “The team knows what it’s doing, and I’m thankful for the opportunity”.

Granderson is still hitting a horrid.221, but he is in sort of a tear. Since being recalled September 1, Buxton is batting.333 with six homers and 15 RBIs, a huge spike from his.193 average and 16 RBIs in 63 games earlier in the year. “But once again, when Steve gets here he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be limited in the workload that he has. And lately, he’s been doing that”. Collins’ ingenuity? None overshadow the moment the Mets are looking at.

“I just thought this is our guy. He was getting a little dizzy, so I took him out”. It goes back to their pitching, which remains a strength despite a rotation that has sustained so many losses. Matt Harvey and David Wright were lost to season-ending surgeries long ago, and more recently, the same thing happened to Neil Walker. LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) is to throw a bullpen Saturday; he has not pitched since August 14.

Lugo has a 1.80 ERA in his last five starts spanning 30 innings.

In addition to Lugo on Saturday, the Mets’ bullpen produced seven innings of one-run ball. “It would be a tremendous achievement to have that (Wild Card) game here but it would be a tremendous achievement to get in after what we’ve been through so that’s our No. 1 focus”.

Advertisement

“Nothing any more damaging than the other ones, basically, that we’ve had that we didn’t expect”, Collins said.