WALK'-UP CALL
Late heroics help Mets avoid sweep
DETROIT — Neil Walker’s awakening from a summer siesta might be the best thing that has happened to the Mets in the last two weeks.
Just when the veteran second baseman appeared ready to be written off after two brutal months, he has approached early-season form with a bat that has delivered important hits.
His latest came Sunday, when he smashed a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning against Francisco Rodriguez, leading the Mets to a 3-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park.
“We’re grinding,” said Walker, who helped the Mets avoid a three-game sweep, a day after Jay Bruce was thrown out at the plate for the final out, killing a comeback attempt. “Nights like [Saturday], where we grinded back, when it looked like we could have packed it in, those are important for teams going down the stretch.
“It’s no secret how things have gone here with injuries and grinding it out and all that stuff. Nights like [Saturday] are important, and when you can’t get that done, to win the last game of a three-game series, you feel a little bit of a salvage.”
It was the second straight Sunday in which Walker’s thunder carried the Mets. The previous Sunday at Citi Field, he hit a three-run homer against the Rockies in a 6-4 victory. Three days later, he homered at Yankee Stadium. Overall, he is hitting .469 with three homers and nine RBIs over his last 12 games.
After Alejandro De Aza was drilled in the right wrist to lead off the ninth in a 1-1 game, Walker cleared the fence in right-center for his 19th homer this season.
“He is seeing the ball real good,” manager Terry Collins said. “He’s not fishing at anything. He’s just locked in, and we need somebody in the middle of that lineup to certainly get on base and to stay hot for awhile.”
The Mets (57-54) were only 1½ games behind in the race for the NL’s second wild-card berth as they left Motown. Ahead is a six-game homestand against the Diamondbacks and Padres that begins Tuesday.
The Mets caught a break in the eighth, when two Tigers base runners ended up at third on Casey McGehee’s single, allowing Kelly Johnson to tag out J.D. Martinez in a rundown. Martinez, the lead runner, had stopped at third instead of attempting to score the goahead run on McGehee’s ball that hit James Loney’s glove. The ball then caromed off Walker and was retrieved by Curtis Granderson, who ran the ball to the infield after he noticed two runners at third.
“I really didn’t know what to do in that situation,” Granderson said. “But I’m going to get as close as I can before I finally make a decision.”
Jacob deGrom went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one earned run on seven hits and two walks and three strikeouts. It was the seventh time in eight starts deGrom allowed two earned runs or fewer. The righty has a 1.52 ERA over that stretch.
Ian Kinsler’s infield single against Jerry Blevins in the seventh tied it 1-1 before Addison Reed entered and retired Jose Iglesias to leave the bases loaded.
DeGrom was removed with two outs in the seventh, after Andrew Romine’s squib single loaded the bases. Blevins entered and faced the pinch hitter, Kinsler, whose single snapped deGrom’s scoreless streak at 20 innings.