There hasn’t been much drama or emotion in this lost Mets season, but Billy Wagner provided a host of both last night at Citi Field.
Just 11 months removed from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, the former All-Star closer continued his remarkable comeback with a perfect eighth inning in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Braves.
The Mets are showcasing the lefty in hopes of trading Wagner before Sept. 1, and contenders — are you listening, Yankees? — had to like what they saw in his return.
After entering the game to a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 39,105 as “Enter Sandman” roared in the background, Wagner blew through the Braves with a fastball consistently in the mid-90s.
“I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes and not make a fool of myself,” said Wagner, who had not appeared in a major-league game since Aug. 2, 2008, at Houston.
“I had a lot of life on the ball,” he said. “Hopefully, the next time I go out there it’ll be a little more under control.
Wagner, who was on a 20-pitch limit, needed just 14 pitches (nine of them strikes) to retire rookie Reid Gorecki, Chipper Jones and Brian McCann in order.
Wagner’s slider and changeup also were in fine working order.
“Definitely, there was a lot of adrenaline getting back after 11 months and getting to face that caliber of hitters,” Wagner said. “That really raises the bar a little bit.”
Wagner fanned Gorecki swinging to lead off the inning with a 96-mph fastball, then got Jones to fly out to former teammate Jeff Francoeur in right before notching another swinging strikeout of McCann, this time on an 84-mph slider.
“I thought he was very good — outstanding, even,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “Lot of life. Even in that short appearance, he threw a changeup and a slider and obviously a mid-90s fastball. That was good to see. That’s really a big plus, both for us and his career.”
Wagner’s appearance wasn’t the only source of drama for the Mets in an otherwise typical loss.
Gary Sheffield, who nearly left the team earlier in the day in a snit over his demand for a contract extension, pinch-hit in the eighth as the tying run but struck out swinging.
Aside from that, though, it was more of the frustrating same for the Mets, who failed to win a series for the sixth consecutive time while losing for the fourth time in their past six games.
Despite facing Japanese righty Kenshin Kawakami, whom they already had beaten twice this season, the Mets went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position in support of the hard-luck Johan Santana (13-9).
The Mets had the tying or go-ahead run on in each of the final four innings but couldn’t break through.
Of course, all of that took a backseat to Wagner’s dramatic eighth.
“To know that I was pretty much written off and then make it back quick, it was very enjoyable,” Wagner said.