TORONTO - David Wright boosted his major-league leading average to .412 and Mike Baxter finished a home run short of the cycle as the New York Mets survived a nervous ninth to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday and salvage the finale of their three-game interleague series.
Former Blue Jays reliever Frank Francisco entered to a chorus of boos in the ninth but survived a walk to Yunel Escobar and a single to Jose Bautista by striking out Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia and Eric Thames to pick up his 10th save.
The Mets took advantage of Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez's shaky outing to the tune of six earned runs on nine hits and two walks in front of 41,867 on warm day at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays right hander, who finished with three strikeouts on the afternoon, came in having given up just six earned runs combined in his previous five starts.
Dillon Gee gave up three earned runs on five hits to go along with six strikeouts and four walks over 6 2-3 innings for New York, which improved to 15-6 all-time against Toronto.
Wright was 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs, while Baxter finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Bautista hit his 11th home run of the season and finished with two RBIs for Toronto, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped.
Trailing 6-3 in the eighth, Arencibia and Thames hit back-to-back doubles off Mets reliever Bobby Parnell to cut the lead to two. Colby Rasmus then snapped an 0-for-20 streak with a single up the middle to scores Thames from second to make the score 6-5.
But Parnell then struck out Yan Gomes and Tim Byrdak came out of the Mets bullpen to get Kelly Johnson to flyout to right.
The Blue Jays chipped away at the New York lead in the seventh after Gee hit Gomes to lead off the inning. The Toronto third baseman later scored on a two-out single to centre by Bautista, but Parnell replaced Gee and induced a forceout from Encarnacion to end the threat.
After Luis Perez tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the Blue Jays, Carlos Villenueva came in for the eighth and loaded the bases but got Wright to strike out with two outs to keep Toronto within striking distance.
The Mets got to Alvarez (3-4) in the top of the first. After leadoff man Andres Torres walked and Baxter doubled to right centre to put runners on second and third, Wright doubled to centre to score two.
After a ground out and a strikeout, Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a sinking liner to centre that was initially caught by a diving Rasmus, but the Toronto centre fielder saw the ball pop out his glove to score New York's third run of the inning.
Alvarez got into more trouble in the second when Ronny Cedeno singled and then scored from third on a Baxter triple to right that glanced off the glove a diving Ben Francisco.
The Jays (23-19) got one back in the second. After back-to-back walks to Francisco and Rasmus, Gomes singled to left to score one. Gee (3-3) got out of the jam with consecutive forceouts off grounders by Johnson and Yunel Escobar.
Bautista then cut the New York lead to 4-2 in the third with a solo home run that had just enough distance down the left-field line.
The Mets (22-19) restored their three-run lead in the fifth when Baxter and Wright singled to put runners at first and second. After Lucas Duda hit into a forceout at second, Daniel Murphy singled to centre to score Baxter from third.
Alvarez then walked Nieuwenhuis to load the bases and a forceout at second on an Ike Davis grounder scored Duda to make it 6-2. Encarnacion ended the threat with a nice play to lean into the camera bay beside the Mets dugout on a Cedeno popup.
Notes: Ben Francisco was replaced in right field by Rajai Davis in the sixth inning as a precaution due to tightness in his left hamstring. ... Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie sat out the final game of his four-game suspension for throwing his batting helmet that bounced up and hit umpire Bill Miller on Tuesday night. ... The Blue Jays fell to 125-143 all-time in interleague play, while the Mets improved to 128-122 against American League opponents. ... Toronto opens a six-game roadtrip against Tampa Bay on Monday. ... The Blue Jays resume interleague play with a series in Atlanta beginning June 8. ... Toronto manager John Farrell refused to comment prior to the game on reports that first baseman Adam Lind was placed on outright waivers when he was sent to triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week. ... Farrell said outfielder Travis Snider took himself out of a triple-A game on Wednesday after feeling some discomfort in his right wrist while swinging a bat. ... The Mets placed starter Miguel Batista on the 15-day disabled list with a lower-back strain and recalled fellow right-hander Chris Schwinden from triple-A Buffalo.
