MLB

Byrd slam offers Mets chance to sweep in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — Now he’s the Byrd Man of Alcatraz.

Marlon Byrd’s improbable career resurrection added another layer Tuesday night, when the veteran outfielder delivered an eighth-inning grand slam that led the Mets to a 10-6 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park.

After needing 16 innings to beat the Giants a night earlier, the Mets finished this one in nine, thanks in part to Byrd’s seventh career grand slam and first since 2009.

“I’m just enjoying myself — that’s it,” said Byrd, whose career was on life support when he signed a minor-league deal with the Mets last winter that is paying him $1.1 million.

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Daniel Murphy had put the Mets ahead 6-5 with a sacrifice fly earlier in the eighth before David Wright walked to load the bases. Byrd then hammered a Jake Dunning slider over the left-field fence, sending the Mets toward their third straight victory and fourth in five games.

The Mets (39-48) moved to single digits in games below .500 for the first time since they were 22-31 on June 1.

“We went through a long streak of not winning,” Byrd said. “But right now is where we want to be, the way we want to play.”

The Mets will go for the series sweep today when Zack Wheeler faces Matt Cain. Wheeler, a former No. 1 draft choice by the Giants who was traded to the Mets for Carlos Beltran in 2011, is coming off three consecutive shaky starts. But he was the winning pitcher on Friday in Milwaukee after allowing three runs, one earned, over five innings.

Dillon Gee struggled, but managed to keep the Mets in the game last night. The right-hander lasted 6²/₃ innings and allowed five earned runs on nine hits and five walks for a third no-decision in his last four starts.

“We needed innings, a lot of innings out of Dillon, and he hung in there,” manager Terry Collins said. “He got us deep into a game, which we needed to have.”

Scott Rice recorded a key out in the seventh, retiring Brandon Crawford with runners on first and second and two outs.

After the Mets left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, the Giants tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Pablo Sandoval’s sacrifice fly. Marco Scutaro’s single had put runners on the corners with nobody out.

The Giants threatened to take the lead in the sixth, but Gee ended that possibility by sticking out his glove to snare Gregor Blanco’s line drive, turning it into an inning-ending double play. Gee had walked the first two batters in the inning and watched pinch-hitter Tony Abreu slice the Mets’ lead to 5-4 with an RBI single.

Anthony Recker’s two-run homer in the sixth off Barry Zito gave the Mets a 5-3 lead after the Giants had tied the game a half-inning earlier. Josh Satin opened the inning with a walk and with one out Recker unloaded into the left-field seats for his fifth homer of the season.

“Recker hit the same pitch I got him out on earlier,” Zito said. “It wasn’t a bad pitch, but he changed his approach. Sometimes that stuff happens.”

Gee surrendered consecutive singles in the fifth that helped the Giants tie the game at 3-3. Included was Japanese rookie Kensuke Tanaka’s first major league hit, putting runners on first and second for the Giants. Scutaro’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners before Sandoval received an RBI with a ground out.

The Mets rallied with three runs in the fourth against Zito to take a 3-2 lead. Omar Quintanilla’s RBI single delivered the final run of the inning after Andrew Brown had stroked a two-run single to tie the game.

Wright and Satin each walked — with a Byrd single sandwiched in between — to load the bases before Brown singled to left for two runs. Quintanilla’s go-ahead single came with two outs.