A.J. Ewing was summoned from Triple-A to provide a much-needed spark to a moribund Mets team in Queens.
If his debut in a 10-2 win over the Tigers at Citi Field was any indication, the speedy outfielder may be up to the task.
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The 21-year-old did a little bit of everything, as he reached base four times, drew three walks, scored twice, drove in a pair of runs, picked up his first hit — a triple — and stole a base.
His lone out of the night came on a 102 mph laser to the warning track in center.
“There’s gonna be playing time for him,’’ Carlos Mendoza said before the game of Ewing, who spent just 12 games with Triple-A Syracuse before his promotion.
“I’m confident in my ability to play,’’ Ewing said beforehand. “I’ll play the same game I’ve been playing.”
His arrival was a boost for a team running out of time to show it’s capable of turning around the season.
As Mendoza noted, “It’s not early anymore. We’ve got to go out there and do it.”
After dropping three of the last four games on their recent road trip, the Mets got some life from what’s been a dead lineup. They also got a fourth straight solid start from Freddy Peralta.
The right-hander allowed just a pair of runs in six innings against Detroit, which has lost six of seven.
It was just the second time in their past 12 games the Mets scored more than five runs.
After Peralta and the Mets fell behind in the second, they came back and went ahead in the fourth and took advantage of plenty of mistakes by the Tigers to improve to 16-25.
Even in victory, though, the Mets found trouble, as Francisco Alvarez left the game with a right knee injury.
It was Alvarez who started the go-ahead rally with a one-out double to left-center in the fourth. He came in when Carson Benge followed with a hit to left to make it 3-2.
The Mets had fallen behind in the top of the second, as Dillon Dingler took Peralta deep to open the inning. Wenceel Pérez followed with a single and moved to third on a double by Gage Workman before Spencer Torkelson’s sacrifice fly.
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But Jack Flaherty, who’d allowed 16 earned runs in just 14 innings over his previous four starts, couldn’t hold the lead for Detroit.
MJ Melendez and Brett Baty reached to lead off the bottom of the inning, and after Ewing walked to load the bases in his first plate appearance in the majors, Alvarez just beat out a throw to first to avoid an inning-ending double play, which allowed Melendez to score.
They tied the score in the bottom of the third with three straight singles by Bo Bichette, Juan Soto and Mark Vientos.
With runners on the corners and two out, Marcus Semien hit a grounder deep into the hole on the left side, where shortstop Kevin McGonigle made a nice backhanded stop and a strong throw to first to end the threat.
The Mets stayed ahead in bizarre fashion in the fifth.
After Colt Keith singled with two outs, Riley Greene followed with a base hit to right.
Benge’s throw got by Baty at third and ricocheted off the railing in front of the Tigers dugout, where Peralta picked it up and fired home.
Keith, after sliding safely into third, got up and immediately ran into third base umpire Rob Drake.
The Mets got some insurance in the sixth, courtesy of more shoddy play by the Tigers around third base.
Ewing drew a one-out walk and swiped second with Alvarez at the plate.
Alvarez left the game with an apparent injury during the at-bat, and Luis Torrens ended up walking before Benge reached on an infield hit to load the bases.
Bichette’s routine grounder to third ended up scoring a pair of runs, as Workman fired his throw to second into right field.
Benge then scored on a Soto groundout to make it 6-2.
