OAKLAND, Calif. — Buck Showalter tried to avoid deploying his highest-leverage relievers on Sunday and nearly got burned for it.
After using Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Adam Ottavino and David Robertson a day earlier — and with a three-game series against the Dodgers on deck — the Mets manager gambled on his less-established arms.
That decision imploded in the eighth inning as John Curtiss surrendered two runs.
The Mets persevered, however, and won 4-3 in 10 innings to complete a three-game sweep of the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum.
As much as the Mets won on Zach Jackson’s wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 10th, there was Brandon Nimmo’s diving catch a half-inning earlier on Jace Peterson’s sinking line drive that extended the game.
Robertson finally entered with a lead in the 10th inning and got the final three outs. The Mets won their fourth straight as they await the arrival of Brett Baty, who is expected in the lineup Monday when they begin a three-game series against the Dodgers.
The bat will be welcomed to a lineup that produced seven runs in the final two games combined of this series after exploding for 17 on Friday night.
Nimmo’s diving catch kept the game alive.
Jimmy Yacabonis had allowed a walk and single to begin the ninth and the Mets would have been finished if Peterson’s ball landed. I
n the 10th inning, Eduardo Escobar, the automatic runner, raced home from third with the go-ahead run on Jackson’s wild pitch.
Pete Alonso resurrected the Mets with a ninth-inning homer that tied it 3-3. The homer was Alonso’s eighth of the season and second in as many games.
The Mets’ only scoring to that point had come on solo homers by Tommy Pham and Francisco Lindor.
But the Mets’ opportunity to go ahead in the ninth was crushed by Escobar, who hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
Lindor completed a big weekend — he had seven RBIs, including a grand slam, in Friday’s victory — with a solo homer in the sixth inning that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.
The blast, which came with two outs, was Lindor’s fourth of the season.
The Mets got what they needed from Jose Butto, who allowed one earned run on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts over five innings.
The right-hander was removed at 83 pitches after walking Peterson to begin the sixth.
Denyi Reyes got three outs in the inning without the run scoring.
Butto, who was inserted to give the Mets a six-man rotation this turn through — Max Scherzer was bumped to Wednesday with lingering back soreness — endured plenty of early traffic, but survived.
He finally dented in the fifth, allowing an RBI single to Esteury Ruiz after Kevin Smith singled leading off the inning and stole second.
Ruiz also stole second in the inning before Butto recorded three straight outs to keep it 1-1.
Pham’s homer in the second got the Mets their first run.
Pham jumped on a fastball from JP Sears and cleared the fence in right-center above the 388-foot sign for his second homer of the season.
Butto received defensive help in the bottom of the inning as Brandon Nimmo raced into the right-center gap and dived to rob Aledmys Diaz of a double.
Butto followed by allowing consecutive singles in the inning, but escaped with his 1-0 lead intact.
In the third, Butto walked Brent Rooker and Ramon Laureano in succession, but with two outs retired Peterson.
In the fourth, Diaz drew a leadoff walk and was called out in his attempted steal of second base because of a batter’s interference on Ryan Noda during Francisco Alvarez’s throw.
Noda struck out on the pitch and the interference ended the inning.