In a game the Mets had in their grasp and let slip away before getting one last chance, it came down to the much-maligned Curtis Granderson to make it right.
And make it right Granderson did, as he laced a game-winning RBI single to turn a one-run ninth-inning deficit into a stirring 4-3 triumph over the Marlins on Friday night at Citi Field.
Lucas Duda singled to left to lead off the ninth off Miami closer Steve Cishek — who came in having converted 33 straight save chances. Duda took second on Travis d'Arnaud's sacrifice bunt. But pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu lined out to left, and pinch-hitter Omar Quintanilla slapped a clean single to left.
Duda came rumbling around third, and what would have been a close play at the plate became the tying run when left fielder Christian Yelich fell after fielding the ball. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a double to left-center, but Quintanilla was held at third. Granderson then slapped a grounder past first baseman Garrett Jones to win it.
Granderson was mobbed at first and took a celebratory pie in the face after only his fourth walk-off hit — and second since April 21. And after the Mets had won five out of six to go a surprising 13-10, why not?
The Mets and starter Zack Wheeler seemed destined for a tough-luck loss. Reliever Gonzalez Germen — who was a strike away from getting out of trouble in the eighth inning — gave up back-to-back home runs.
With late-inning relievers Carlos Torres and Daisuke Matsuzaka overused and unavailable, manager Terry Collins turned to Germen.
He pitched a scoreless seventh and got the first two outs of the eighth . But after Collins had opted to stick with Germen instead of going with lefty Scott Rice, who was warmed up in the bullpen, Germen didn't get a 2-2 pitch he wanted against Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and took a step toward the dugout before home plate umpire Andy Fletcher called it a ball.
Then, after Saltalamacchia fouled off a full-count pitch, the Marlins catcher deposited the next pitch over the fence in left to tie the game. The next batter, Jones, untied it, crushing Germen's pitch off the foul pole in right for a 3-2 lead. But Jeurys Familia (1-2) — who hadn't pitched in six days — tossed a scoreless ninth and the Mets then rallied to win it.
The Mets have hit under .200 over their last half-dozen games, but have gotten great starting pitching that had a 1.61 ERA in that span.
The 23-year-old Wheeler scattered four hits and just one run in six strong innings, walking three and striking out 10. It was the second double-digit strikeout game of his career, after his dozen-strikeout performance last Aug. 15 at San Diego, and it was even more encouraging to see the way he did it.
Wheeler had struggled at home — a career 2-5 with a 4.68 ERA at Citi Field — but broke both of those trends Friday night.
In his first four starts this year, opposing batters had hit .313 against him. But he managed to navigate through a 24-pitch first inning on Friday, fanning Saltalamacchia on a 94 mph fastball to strand men at first and third.
The Mets backed him with two runs in the third. Eric Young Jr. beat out an infield hit, stole second, took third on Granderson's fly to center and scored when David Wright ripped an RBI single to left. Wright hustled all the way around from first to score when Daniel Murphy dropped a double down the left field line.
Wheeler allowed only Marcell Ozuna's RBI single in the fifth. But the Mets offense did little, Wright sending Giancarlo Stanton to the track in the bottom of the fifth.
Wheeler got out of a first-and-third jam in the sixth, fanning Derek Dietrich on an 86 mph changeup and Adeiny Hechavarria on an 87 mph slider.
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