SAN FRANCISCO — Francisco Rodriguez put the Mets through a body cavity search this afternoon and then let them escape from Alcatraz without getting swept.
The erratic Mets closer owes a debt of gratitude to Ike Davis, whose go-ahead double in the 10th inning at AT&T Park spared Rodriguez from becoming the complete roast of the town back home.
Rodriguez struck out Eli Whiteside with the tying and winning runs on base in the 10th, preserving the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Giants.
But Rodriguez also owes a debt of gratitude to plate umpire Phil Cuzzi – who nearly ejected him for complaining about a ball/strike call in the ninth – for blowing a call that would have given the Giants the victory.
Travis Ishikawa stroked a two-run single to tie the game after Rodriguez’s outburst at Cuzzi on a 1-0 pitch that appeared to clip the outside corner, but was called a ball.
Andres Torres followed with a double to right, sending Ishikawa to third. Cuzzi then missed one by a mile.
Freddy Sanchez hit a grounder to third, and with Ishikawa coming home David Wright threw high to Henry Blanco. Sanchez clearly slid across the plate ahead of Blanco’s tag, but Cuzzi called the runner out.
The bad inning for the umpire continued when the ensuing batter, Aubrey Huff, hit a squib in front of the plate – a fair ball – that was ruled foul. But Rodriguez then retired Huff on a ground out, ending the game to extra innings.
In the 10th, Jason Bay singled with two outs against Brian Wilson before Davis smashed a shot off the right-field fence for a double that gave the Mets a 4-3 lead.
Johan Santana made it four straight dominant starts since a June slide that sounded alarm bells around baseball by allowing one run over eight innings. Santana is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in July, after four straight appearances in which he allowed four runs or more.
The Mets needed this one after losing their first three games here, including an 8-4 loss on Saturday in which Hisanori Takahashi failed to escape the third inning.
Jonathan Sanchez was a handful, limiting the Mets to two runs on six hits over seven innings. All told Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Matt Cain and Sanchez combined to hold the Mets to four runs over 31 innings.
Wright’s homer leading off the fourth snapped a 1-1 tie. The homer was Wright’s 15th of the season and the Mets’ third in two games.
A day after hitting two home runs, Davis stroked an RBI double in the eighth that gave the Mets breathing room in the form of a 3-1 lead.
Angel Pagan’s RBI double in the third had tied the game. Ruben Tejada walked with one out and scored easily on Pagan’s shot to the gap in left-center. It came on the same day manager
Jerry Manuel hinted he may have to make an “unpopular” decision and choose between playing
Pagan and Jeff Francoeur full-time in right field.
The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Buster Posey sacrifice fly, after Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff had singled in succession.
Francoeur booted Huff’s single, but Sanchez was running hard for third on the play regardless. Even so, if Francoeur had fielded the ball cleanly there may have been a play at third base.
The Giants threatened to take the lead in the sixth against Santana by putting Posey and Burrell aboard on consecutive singles leading off the inning. But Santana retired the next three hitters to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Burrell’s hard grounder hit Wright’s right knee and bounded into the air, prompting a visit from trainer Ray Ramirez. Wright remained in the game.
mpuma@nypost.com