A pinch of Mike Baxter and dash of Juan Lagares were just the ingredients needed to turn a potential lump of mush into delectable dining Thursday night for the Mets.
After Lagares kept the game tied with a circus catch near the top of the center-field fence in the ninth inning, Baxter delivered his second pinch-hit game-ender in three days, an RBI single off Jason Grilli that gave the Mets a 3-2 victory over the Pirates at Citi Field.
”A walk-off tends to be a climax of excitement,” said Baxter, whose RBI single in the 10th inning beat the White Sox on Tuesday. “But a five-run win wouldn’t hurt either.”
The Mets (14-17) continue to struggle offensively, but solid pitching and defense has kept them competitive over the last week. Last night it was Lagares coming to the rescue on defense, after Dillon Gee and the bullpen kept the Mets in the game.
With the go-ahead run on base against Bobby Parnell in the ninth, Andrew McCutchen hit a drive that screamed “RBI double” or “homer” until Lagares made a leaping catch at the fence for the inning’s final out.
”I just said that I had to go hard, because that could be the game,” Lagares said. “I saw it all the way.”
Marlon Byrd singled leading off the bottom of the inning against Grilli and went to second on Andrew Brown’s sacrifice bunt before Baxter won it.
”[Pinch-hitting] is one tough job, and for a young guy to do it as well as he does it is truly remarkable,” manager Terry Collins said.
Baxter is highly regarded for his ability to work counts and take walks, but said his mindset changes as a pinch-hitter. Last night, he delivered on the second pitch.
”You have to be a little more aggressive for the start of your at-bat, because you’ve been idle all game,” Baxter said. “It’s always good when you have a plan going to the plate, and for me, I feel that approach helps.”
Pedro Alvarez’s titanic home run against LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth made it 2-2 after the Mets had gone ahead on Ike Davis’ RBI double an inning earlier. Alvarez, who drove in the Pirates’ first run with a sacrifice fly, hammered a Hawkins fastball deep beyond the fence in right-center for his sixth homer of the season.
Brown’s first hit this year — he had been 0-for-7 to begin the season — started the Mets’ go-ahead rally with one out in the seventh. After Lagares struck out, Davis launched an RBI double to deep right-center against lefty Tony Watson. Davis, who still is hitting just .178, began the game on the bench against Pirates left-hander Jeff Locke.
”It’s got to get him going,” Collins said, when asked about Davis’ double against Watson. “That’s a big hit for him. He’s really frustrated, and he stayed in there and put a good swing on it. That’s all you really want him to do.”
Gee lasted five-plus innings and allowed one run on five hits with two walks, two hit batters and three strikeouts.
After drilling former Yankee Russell Martin to load the bases with nobody out in the sixth, Gee was replaced by Brandon Lyon, who allowed a sacrifice fly to Alvarez before retiring the next three batters.
For Gee, it was a second straight start in which he failed to complete six innings. Eight days earlier, he lasted five innings in Miami, surrendering four earned runs to get the victory. The right-hander hasn’t completed seven innings in any of his six starts.
John Buck snapped an 0-for-14 skid with a single leading off the second and later scored on Byrd’s sacrifice fly. Justin Turner’s single — he was out trying to reach second — moved Buck to third with one out before Byrd got the run home.
Before getting knocked out in the sixth, Gee allowed a base runner in each of the first five innings, but escaped trouble. In the third, he retired Garrett Jones with runners on the corners and two outs, before getting Brandon Inge to hit into an inning-ending double play an inning later.
mpuma@nypost.com