DENVER — Angry Byrd, anyone?
Marlon Byrd sure fit that description in the eighth inning Thursday night as he was lurching toward a Matt Belisle fastball that he sent to disappear into the left-field seats at Coors Field. With one violent thrust, Byrd had given the Mets a lead and made their largely Quadruple-A lineup seem respectable.
After Byrd threw out Michael Cuddyer attempting to stretch a single into a double leading off the bottom of the ninth inning and the Mets had a 3-2 victory over the Rockies, the right fielder made it clear this is what should be expected.
“We didn’t come here to have a 100-loss season,” Byrd said. “We didn’t come here to just play and play for fourth place. We came here to win.”
A game originally postponed by snow on April 17 was played in 95-degree heat that didn’t seem so grueling for the Mets because of Byrd’s late-inning heroics.
With David Wright on the bench for a rest, Byrd carried the lineup and made the big defensive play on Cuddyer. LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice and Bobby Parnell combined for three shutout relief innings behind Jeremy Hefner’s solid starting performance, allowing the Mets to finish 7-4 on a road trip through Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago (White Sox) and Colorado.
“This is no disrespect to the Rockies because they have injuries like everybody else and they have a nice club,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “But when you can win a game without David Wright in our lineup, that’s huge for us. That’s enormous. That means somebody else had to really step up and do the job.”
Daniel Murphy singled in the eighth and stole second before Byrd crushed a 2-2 fastball from Belisle for his 12th homer to give the Mets their first lead at 3-2.
After Rice pitched a scoreless eighth, Cuddyer led off the ninth with a sharp single to right against Parnell and didn’t stop running. Byrd fielded the ball cleanly and made a pinpoint throw to second, thwarting a potential game-tying rally.
Byrd said he works on his throws almost every day at Citi Field under the watchful eye of outfield coach Tom Goodwin.
The fact Cuddyer was so aggressive hardly surprised Byrd.
“That’s that old school Minnesota Twins baseball,” Byrd said. “Cuddyer knows how to play the game and he was trying to put pressure on the defense, which I know that he does. I just came up and made a decent throw.”
The Mets will try to start showing life at Citi Field beginning tonight, when they face the Nationals to open a seven-game homestand. Ace Matt Harvey, who pitched six shutout innings in a rain-shortened start against the Phillies on Sunday, is scheduled to pitch against lefty Ross Detwiler.
At 14-23, the Mets have the worst home record in the NL. But they won two of three games against the Nationals at Citi Field in April.
Hefner gave the Mets about all they could have wanted yesterday by allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and one walk over six innings. The right-hander hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last five starts.
“I knew that I could pitch this way and my performance is finally matching up to the expectation,” Hefner said. “This doesn’t surprise me. I know I’m capable of doing this.”
Juan Lagares was caught looking at strike three to end a threat in the sixth against Tyler Chatwood, and the Mets, trailing 2-1, appeared in trouble.
Chatwood lasted six innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks. The right-hander pitched four hitless innings before Zach Lutz singled in the fifth, following a walk to Josh Satin. Hefner’s RBI fielder’s choice in the inning gave the Mets their first run.
“Without D. Wright in the lineup you wonder if you’re going to score runs,” Byrd said. “But we got enough today.”
mpuma@nypost.com