PHILADELPHIA — Juan Lagares prevented the longest day of the year from becoming even longer for the Mets.
Hours after the team placed Jon Niese on the disabled list with a partially torn left rotator cuff, the rookie Lagares had maybe his biggest game in the majors, making a highlight reel catch and driving in the go-ahead run in the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Phillies last night at Citizens Bank Park.
Lagares finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, the last of which broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning against Cole Hamels.
An inning earlier, Lagares raced to deep center to snare a Carlos Ruiz drive with the bases loaded, saving the Mets three runs.
“I had it right off the bat,” Lagares said. “I just tried to go hard. I knew that one was over my head and I just tried to go wherever it got.”
The Mets (29-41) won for the fourth time in five games on a night Jeremy Hefner survived early trouble.
Hefner (2-6) allowed three runs in the second inning — one of which was unearned — but then kept the Phillies scoreless for the next four. The right-hander allowed 10 hits and walked one over six innings for his first win since May 29.
“They grind out at-bats and make you get them out — it’s a tough lineup,” Hefner said. “And especially for me, a guy who doesn’t blow people away, I’ve got to be able to pitch and fortunately I did enough to keep us in the game and we got a ‘W.’ ”
Lagares smashed a go-ahead RBI double off Hamels in the sixth that gave the Mets their first lead. An inning earlier, he had been in the middle of a Mets rally that tied the game.
Lagares doubled and reached third on Omar Quintanilla’s single before Eric Young Jr. delivered a two-run single. An inning earlier, Young doubled and scored on David Wright’s RBI single, slicing the Phillies’ lead to 3-1.
Scott Rice, Carlos Torres and Bobby Parnell each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. That made it 8 2/3 shutout innings for the Mets bullpen over the last two days, and Parnell’s save was his 12th in 15 chances.
The Phillies took the lead in that second inning. Dominic Brown stroked an RBI double before a second run came in on Ben Revere’s fielder’s choice. Revere scored the inning’s final run when Daniel Murphy booted Jimmy Rollins’ grounder.
“I thought this was a great win for us,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’re down 3-0 with Cole Hamels on the mound, to come back and win this one was big.”