KEY KNOCK:Willie Harris smacks a game-winning, two-run single in the ninth inning to lead the Mets’ to an 8-6 come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals yesterday in St. Louis. (Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS — Willie Harris had a congratulatory text message waiting for him after the Mets completed maybe their most improbable victory of the season.
The message — “Nice job” — was from Braves coach Terry Pendleton.
“I guess the guys over there are pretty excited about it,” Harris said, referring to the Braves, after the Mets rallied to beat the Cardinals 8-6 at Busch Stadium thanks to Harris’ two-run, game-winning single.
If nothing else, these beat up Mets made a difference for a day. Trailing by four runs in the ninth and headed toward being swept three games in this series, they scored six runs, stunning the 35,992 in attendance ready to celebrate the Cardinals closing the gap on Atlanta to one game in the NL wild-card race.
Instead, the Cardinals trail Atlanta by two games with six remaining. If the Cardinals miss the playoffs by a game, manager Tony La Russa might have nightmares all winter about yesterday’s ninth inning. Maybe nothing resonated louder than shortstop Rafael Furcal booting Nick Evans’ grounder — a likely double play ball — after Harris had walked to start the inning.
The error opened the gate for the Mets to seize control of the game on three hits and four walks. Bobby Parnell followed with a perfect inning for his sixth save. The victory gave the Mets a final road record of 43-38, a far cry from their 31-44 mark at home.
“This really puts a big exclamation point on the fact we’ve played so well on the road,” manager Terry Collins said. “To come back against that team, that bullpen, in the ninth inning, was huge.”
After Furcal’s error put runners on first and second with nobody out in the ninth, Jason Motte retired Josh Thole, but followed with a walk to Jason Pridie that loaded the bases. Justin Turner then walked to pull the Mets within 6-3.
Jose Reyes greeted reliever Marc Rzepczynski with an RBI single before Ruben Tejada’s two-run double against Fernando Salas tied it. Harris’ ensuing two-run single put the Mets ahead for the first time.
“This is our job, and when you go to work you should go to work hard,” Harris said. “We put everything on the line right there. We were facing Motte — this guy is filthy. But he had a hard time finding the strike zone and we were able to take advantage of that.”
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For a change, the Mets received a solid performance from their bullpen. Josh Stinson allowed two runs in the seventh as the only blemish, after starter Chris Capuano allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings.
A night earlier the Mets scored a run in the ninth, but ultimately fell short in a 6-5 loss.
“The way we scrapped both [Wednesday] and then tonight was just unbelievable,” Capuano said. “The guys didn’t give away any at-bats, we grinded every pitch, and what a comeback for the game.”
The Cardinals have six games remaining against the Cubs and Astros in their bid to forget the damage the Mets inflicted on their wild-card chances. The Mets head home for the Phillies and Reds.
“You look up in the eighth inning, and we only had three [total] hits,” Collins said. “When you fight back like that it’s real amazing.”
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Jason Bay (sinus infection) and Lucas Duda were both sidelined yesterday. The Mets still are monitoring Duda for possible concussion symptoms after he hit his head on the right-field wall on Wednesday.
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Lance Berkman has agreed to a $12 million contract with St. Louis, giving the Cardinals a valuable bat for 2012.
— with AP