DETROIT — The Mets finally found a way around their season-long problem of hitting with runners in scoring position.
Just don’t put any runners in scoring position.
The Mets had zero such at-bats on Sunday against the Tigers at Comerica Park. But it didn’t matter as Neil Walker delivered a tiebreaking two-run home run in the top of the ninth off Francisco Rodriguez to power the Mets to a badly needed 3-1 victory.
The Mets, who went 2-for-17 with RISP in dropping the first two games here, salvaged the finale behind 6 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball from Jacob deGrom and a solo home run by Michael Conforto.
The game was scoreless into the seventh as deGrom battled Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez, who came in with a 6.26 ERA. The Mets had just three singles against Sanchez when Conforto hit a two-out blast to left-center, his 11th homer of the season.
The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the seventh on Ian Kinsler’s bases-loaded infield single off Jerry Blevins. It was the second of two consecutive infield singles to bedevil the seemingly snakebit Mets, who lost a one-run game on Saturday night when Jay Bruce was thrown out at the plate on a Travis d’Arnaud single for the final out of the game.
The Mets did get a break — and a reminder that sometimes other teams make mistakes, too — when the Tigers failed to take the lead against Addison Reed in the eighth.
Detroit had runners on first and second with two outs when Casey McGehee sent a grounder that glanced off James Loney’s glove, trickled past Walker and went into short rightfield for a single.
J.D. Martinez, who was on second, did not try to score and stopped at third base. But Justin Upton, who was on first, continued on toward third. Martinez was tagged out after a brief rundown.
In the ninth, Rodriguez hit Alejandro De Aza with an 0-and-2 pitch before Walker unloaded on a 2-and-1 offering for his 19th home run of the season.
The Mets, who are off on Monday, could exhale once Jeurys Familia struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his 39th save.
..... - Newsday