NEW YORK -- The New York Mets seemed to spin all of their season's storylines into a single win on Saturday night.
Learning of a devastating injury only to regain some footing and get a win? Check. Not scoring a lot and yet hitting home runs to survive? Check. Having the backbone of so much success come from unheralded pitchers? Check that too. It was all there by the time Curtis Granderson hit a 12th inning walk-off homer -- his second long ball of the night -- for a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins before 36,941 at Citi Field.
Hours before the first pitch, the Mets took another punch to the gut when they learned Jacob deGrom would be lost for the season to an elbow issue. The news seemed to hang over them as they couldn't mount anything against Twins starter Ervin Santana. But in the 11th inning, after Byron Buxton's homer put their backs to the wall, the Mets got off the mat behind Granderson's bat.
He hit his first home run out to left off Minnesota closer Brandon Kintzler to tie the game. The Mets then loaded the bases and were on the verge of breaking through before Jose Reyes was called out on strikes to end the threat. No matter, Granderson was back up with two outs in the 12th and hit a full-count pitch out to right field.
"Our resiliency is great. Our guys played hard and in a big game, especially with the news earlier about Jake," manager Terry Collins said. "They came out tonight knowing they needed to win this game, and they did it."
This makes 10 wins in 13 games for the Mets, who moved into a tie for the top NL wild card with the Giants. San Francisco lost to St. Louis, which is now two games back of a wild-card spot. At 79-69, the Mets are 10 games over .500 for the first time this season.
Granderson's second blast was the the Mets' 201st this season, a franchise record. They rank second in the NL in homers this season, but it comes with a peculiar caveat: they are 13th of 15 in runs scored. Home runs seem to be the key, given that the Mets are 69-37 when they hit one.
Granderson hitting the home runs that put them even with the record and then pushed them ahead seems apropos. He has hit 28 home runs but somehow has only 51 RBIs.
"I am really not sure," Granderson said when asked of the oddity. "I just haven't been able to get as many RBI, successful chances, over the season. I've had walks and sacrifice flies in those situations. ... I just don't know."
Granderson is still hitting a horrid .221, but he is in sort of a tear. In his last 16 games, he has hit eight home runs with 16 RBIs.
"He doesn't have a lot of RBI, there's a lot of reasons for it, but I tell you, he's the guy that you just turn to, and you feel like he's going to do some damage when he goes up to home plate," Collins said. "And lately he's been doing it."
Some of the success has coincided with moving him to the cleanup spot in the batting order, where he has been all month.
Collins appeared to be teetering on the brink of benching or platooning Granderson about a month ago, but Collins thought about his contributions to winning the 2015 pennant and stuck with him.
"I just thought this is our guy. What he did last year certainly contributed so much to where we got to at the end of the year," Collins said. "As much as you think you have to react and start benching guys, this is the guy. He's our guy. And I just thought it was important to stick with him."
So how do the Mets hit so many homers yet score so few runs and win? It goes back to their pitching, which remains a strength despite a rotation that has sustained so many losses. Matt Harvey was lost to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in July, and now deGrom is gone too. Steven Matz has been sidelined for a month with a shoulder issue. But the Mets have brought up Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, and they have delivered the goods. Lugo threw five innings of one-run ball when Saturday's 4 hour, 15 minute marathon started.
In addition to Lugo on Saturday, the Mets' bullpen produced seven innings of one-run ball.
But it seems that's what it's going to take for the Mets to get back to the postseason and maybe even earn home field for the wild-card game: an ensemble effort.
"For us to finish however many we've got left," Collins said. "It's going to take all 40 guys in that clubhouse. That's for sure."
