Granderson homers in 11th and 12th, lifts Mets over Twins

If the Mets and Giants tie for the first wild card, the Mets host by virtue of going 4-3 against the Giants during the regular season.

Not quite as dramatic as his first-career homer, an extra-innings game-winner in Washington last week, Rivera’s second career home run was a solo shot to left field that gave the Mets an insurance run. Gibson walked Kelly Johnson, but got a break when Travis d’Arnaud lined into a double-play at second.

Granderson hitting the home runs that put them even with the record and then pushed them ahead seems apropos.

These unlikely heroes were a good fit for a game where the Mets seemed to be making a lot of big gambles.

Curtis Granderson hit two extra-inning homers – one to tie the game in the 11th and one to win it in the 12th – on Saturday night as the Mets beat the Twins 3-2. End-game relievers Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia were not available.

Cespedes ill: Yoenis Cespedes did not go back onto the field for the top of the seventh, and the Mets announced the slugger’s departure was because of nausea and dizziness.

Yes, the Mets have had plenty of big-name setbacks. DeGrom will need surgery but has not decided whether he will wait until the end of the season. He missed almost four months recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back. Jacob deGrom is missing the final month. Nevertheless, he could use a third reliably productive outfielder to play alongside Cespedes and the resurgent Granderson (who has been playing center field capably). Loney was fished from the discard pile and is batting.263. “You get into those games that look like they’re going to be about pitching”. Rivera is an example. Hey look, somebody else has got to help.

“When you’re called upon to get your chance to get in the lineup, make the most of it”, Collins said. Tried to get him to relax a little bit. “That’s what you saw today”. Gibson comes off of an 8-1 win at Detroit with the lone run given up over eight innings. Josh Smoker got three.

“This is our season in a nutshell”, Blevins said. I’ve had walks and sacrifice flies in those situations. Rookie Seth Lugo labored through five innings of four-hit ball to again support the Mets’ decimated rotation.

“It was one of those days where I didn’t walk out of the bullpen not trusting my stuff”, Gibson said. “I truly believe in overachievers, [and] I think he’s one of those guys”. “We have a lot of guys that are exhausted and a lot of guys that are banged up”. “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”. “Our guys played hard, in a big game – especially with the news, earlier, about Jake, they came out tonight knowing they needed to win this game, and they did it”. The Mets envisioned Dilson Herrera as the second baseman for next season but had to deal him to get Bruce in a trade from Cincinnati.

The 12th inning walkoff blast represented the Mets’ 201st homerun of the season, breaking a team record that had been previously set in 2006. 2B Brian Dozier’s 22-game hitting streak is the longest by a Twin since Torii Hunter hit in 23 straight games April 11-May, 9, 2007. “He’s getting a little dizzy, so I took him out”.

Right now, however, the back stories don’t seem to matter with the Mets. Collins’ ingenuity? None overshadow the moment the Mets are looking at.

“We’re in a position where if we play well, play the way we know we can the rest of the way, ” Conforto said, “we’ll be playing playoff baseball”.