Bo Bichette singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning after New York tied the score with two outs in the ninth, giving the visiting Mets a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.
Cleveland, which is tied for the third American League wild-card spot, appeared to have the game won in the ninth until shortstop Brayan Rocchio fumbled a two-out grounder from A.J. Ewing, allowing Jared Young to score.
New York had loaded the bases against All-Star closer Cade Smith, who was charged with his fifth blown save in 35 chances this year. Matt Festa (2-3) gave up the decisive run in the 10th inning.
Mets reliever Chayce McDermott (1-0) worked two scoreless innings for his first major league win. Daniel Duarte threw a hitless 10th inning for his first save of the year.
Earlier in the day, Cleveland promoted top infield prospect Angel Genao from Triple-A Columbus. The third baseman became the first player in franchise history to collect four hits in his major league debut, the final one an RBI single in the seventh that gave the Guardians a 5-4 advantage.
Genao also committed two errors on the same play in the fourth, one inning after singling in his initial at-bat.
Brett Baty, Jorge Polanco and rookie Carson Benge hit solo homers for New York, which has won the first two games of the three-game series.
Nathaniel Lowe had a two-run single for the Guardians, who have lost four out of five.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee, who hadn’t allowed a homer in his past four starts, gave up three in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out a season-high 10 without a walk and allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits.
Christian Scott struck out seven in five innings for the Mets, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks. Jefry Yan followed with a scoreless sixth in his initial major league game.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was ejected in the sixth inning, reacting to a called third strike against Chase DeLauter with the bases loaded.
Former starting shortstop Gabriel Arias was designated for assignment to make room for Genao. Arias made three errors in 28 games at third base, including one that led to three unearned runs by the Mets on Tuesday.
The Guardians’ regular third baseman, Jose Ramirez, did not start for the second straight game due to soreness in his surgically repaired left wrist, but he pinch-ran in the 10th. Ramirez felt discomfort in the joint Sunday after a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
–Field Level Media
