MLB

Hairston’s two homers bail out bullpen, Mets

SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Hairston’s trade value may never be higher than the point it reached in last night’s 10th inning.

The Mets outfielder had already smashed a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth when he donned his cape and came to the rescue again. Hairston’s 10th-inning solo homer against Santiago Casilla bailed out Bobby Parnell and put the Mets ahead for good in a wild, 8-7 victory over the Giants in front of 41,300 at AT&T Park.

BOX SCORE

With the non-waiver trading deadline set to arrive today at 4 p.m., Hairston remains in demand for teams seeking a right-handed bat — including these Giants.

For Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, the trick will be determining whether to pull the trigger on a deal. As of yesterday, a team source said the Mets had nothing on the table they considered a legitimate offer for Hairston, whose two homers gave him 14 in only 231 at-bats.

“I’m really hoping he’s in my uniform [tonight], and I have no reason to believe he won’t be,” manager Terry Collins said. “I know that if he is moved it’s for a piece that is genuinely going to make us get better, so I hope he’s still here.”

Hairston reiterated that he hopes to remain with the Mets.

“I’m expecting to be in the dugout,” he said. “Nothing has happened and I’m happy here and that’s all that matters right now.”

The Mets (50-53) have consecutive victories for the first time since beating the Dodgers on June 29-30. They will complete a horrific July when phenom Matt Harvey takes the mound tonight against struggling Tim Lincecum. The Giants have lost five straight games.

Last night, the bullpen made the Mets work way too hard for the victory. That included Manny Acosta surrendering a run in the 10th and leaving the tying run at third base as Brandon Belt nearly missed a game-ending homer. The Mets had scored a run in the 10th after Hairston’s homer on Rob Johnson’s fielder’s choice bunt.

After Parnell allowed a run on Buster Posey’s RBI double in the ninth, lefty Josh Edgin was summoned with one out and the tying run on third. With the infield in, Nate Schierholtz hit a chopper to first that skipped past Ike Davis as he went for the short hop. Schierholtz raced to second with an RBI double as the tying run scored.

Edgin allowed a walk and infield single to load the bases with two outs before Marco Scutaro struck out looking on a full-count fastball.

With the Mets sinking toward the bottom of San Francisco Bay, Hairston hit a two-run homer against reliever Sergio Romo in the eighth to make it 4-4.

But the Mets weren’t finished. Davis was hit by a pitch before Justin Turner launched a shot to deep left-center that landed for a go-ahead double. The Mets added another run after Rob Johnson’s shot off Brandon Crawford’s glove allowed Turner to score.

Jeremy Hefner’s night crumbled in the sixth, when the Giants scored twice against him to take a 4-2 lead. Ronny Cedeno booted an Aubrey Huff grounder that would have been a sure inning-ending double play — the Mets got one out on the play — allowing the go-ahead run to score before Ryan Theriot’s RBI single added another.

The rookie Hefner’s final line included four earned runs allowed on 10 hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 5 ²/₃ innings in the no-decision.

Jason Bay snapped an 0-for-23 skid with a single in the sixth inning and stole second. He came within one hitless at-bat of matching the career-worst 0-for-24 drought he had last season with the Mets.

Hefner allowed a bloop to Scutaro leading off the fifth that turned into a double when Bay dived and deflected the ball toward center field. Melky Cabrera’s RBI single later in the inning made it 2-2.

Cedeno’s two-run double in the fourth against Madison Bumgarner gave the Mets a 2-1 lead, but it might have been more if not for a questionable call at second base.

David Wright was called out at second when crew chief Dale Scott ruled that Theriot was transferring the ball after receiving a throw from Scutaro on Hairston’s grounder. But Theriot never appeared in possession of the ball on replay.

It was Scott’s crew that drew the Mets’ ire 2 ½ weeks ago in Atlanta. On successive days against the Braves, manager Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen were ejected. This time, Collins remained in the game after a brief argument. Bay later drew a two-out walk and Cedeno’s double put the Mets ahead.

The Giants got a run in the third on Scutaro’s sacrifice fly after Bumgarner’s single put runners on the corners with one out.

Hefner allowed a leadoff double to Posey in the fourth and had the bases loaded with two outs before striking out Bumgarner.