PHOENIX — That probably wasn’t “Gold-schmidt” coming from the lips of Scott Atchison as he watched a drive by the Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt ascend and then fall behind the right-field fence in the ninth inning Friday night.
The ball was gone, and along with it a Mets’ winning streak that had reached three games. Goldschmidt’s walk-off blast nullified the Mets’
comeback an inning earlier in a 5-4 Diamondbacks victory at Chase Field.
Atchison retired the first batter he faced, Martin Prado, before Goldschmidt — a serious National League MVP candidate — hit his 27th home run of the season. To that point, the Mets bullpen had worked 3 ¹/₃ shutout innings on a night when Jeremy Hefner struggled.
The Mets rallied with two runs in the eighth to tie the game against Heath Bell. After Daniel Murphy, Marlon Byrd and Josh Satin singled successively to load the bases with nobody out, Justin Turner grounded out for his third RBI of the game. Moments later, Wilmer Flores grounded out to bring in the tying run. It gave the rookie Flores five RBIs in his first four major league games.
It has been a tale of two Hefs for the Mets, who Friday were again left to wonder what Hefner really is.
They have probably deduced by now that he’s not the pitcher who posted a 1.76 ERA in his final seven starts of the first half. With less certainty, the Mets can say he’s probably also not the pitcher who has been brutal since the All-Star break.
After barely surviving a fifth inning in which he surrendered two runs, Hefner allowed three straight hits to open the sixth and was promptly removed. Wil Nieves’ two-run double against Hefner broke the
2-2 tie before Pedro Feliciano and David Aardsma contained the fire.
In his five starts since the All-Star break, Hefner has a 9.13 ERA.
Over that stretch he has lasted six innings only once.
Turner’s second RBI single of the game made it 2-2 in the sixth, but the Mets missed a chance to take the lead when Flores and John Buck were retired with two runners on base. Buck was caught looking at a full-count pitch from Patrick Corbin to end the inning.
Hefner was sailing with two outs in the fifth before successive doubles by Corbin, Adam Eaton and Prado gave the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead. Hefner then walked Goldschmidt before retiring Eric Chavez to escape.
Turner gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out RBI single against Corbin. After Satin walked and reached second on a wild pitch, Turner, who was in the lineup at shortstop to give Omar Quintanilla a rest, delivered for his eighth RBI of the season.
Byrd gambled in the second inning and was thrown out at the plate trying to stretch a leadoff triple into an inside-the-park homer. Byrd hit a shot that just missed clearing the fence in center, and when the ball caromed back toward the infield, he had his opening. But Aaron Hill made a perfect relay home and Byrd was called out by umpire Mark Wegner, despite on replay appearing to touch the plate before the tag.
Juan Lagares took a base-running gamble in the seventh and was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple, ending the inning.
mpuma@nypost.com
Jeremy Hefner gets the start against Arizona’s Patrick Corbin.