Harrison Bader had waited patiently for his first signature moment in a Mets uniform and Sunday finally received it.
The ball traveled all of 75 feet, but to Bader this swinging bunt might as well have landed in the upper deck.
“I thought it was going to hit the wall,” Bader joked after his bases-loaded dribbler in the eighth inning broke a scoreless deadlock in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Royals at Citi Field.
Hours after Dwight Gooden’s No. 16 was retired in a pregame ceremony, the Mets celebrated a third straight series victory.
That the Mets won this one with a superb starting pitching performance from Jose Butto served as an additional tribute to Gooden.
But lefty Cole Ragans was just as successful in handling the Mets, using his 100 mph heat to dominate for six innings.
In the eighth, the Mets loaded the bases on walks to Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brett Baty against reliever Chris Stratton before Bader, with two outs, delivered his infield single.
Brandon Nimmo drew the fourth walk in the inning to give the Mets a second run.
DJ Stewart was an option to hit in Bader’s place in the eighth, but manager Carlos Mendoza stuck with the veteran outfielder in a big spot and was rewarded.
Bader, who arrived in the offseason on a one-year contract worth $10.5 million, finished 2-for-4 to continue a surge that has raised his average to .302 after a sluggish start.
“You knew it was going to be a tough matchup for Bader because of the two-seamer from Stratton,” Mendoza said. “But that was a decision I had to make and we got the result. But it’s important because he’s one of our everyday guys and at times I am going to ask a lot of them to come up in situations like this.”
Bader said he had difficulty seeing through the shadows and was thinking “smaller” in his final at-bat.
“That was maybe not the most conventional way of scoring an RBI, but it did get the job done,” Bader said. “I think we had really good at-bats and to push it across for my team means a lot to me.”
Edwin Diaz allowed a solo homer to Vinnie Pasquantino in the ninth.
But Diaz rebounded to retire Freddy Fermin and earn his third save.
In his second straight strong performance, Butto allowed only two hits with a walk and hit batter over six shutout innings.
The right-hander struck out nine, using his changeup as the strikeout pitch five times.
Butto struck out the side to begin the game.
It was the first time this season a Mets pitcher faced three batters in an inning and struck out all of them.
The Royals had their best chance against him in the second inning, when Butto surrendered a leadoff double to Salvador Perez and plunked Adam Frazier with two outs.
Butto then retired Hunter Renfroe.
The Mets wasted an opportunity in the fourth, when Starling Marte was nailed at the plate to end the inning on a strong throw from M.J. Melendez after tagging up on Tyrone Taylor’s fly to left.
Marte had singled leading off the inning and the ensuing batter, Francisco Lindor, reached on a single and advanced to second after Renfroe booted the ball in right field.
Butto struck out Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia to begin the sixth before Bobby Witt Jr. delivered a double to give the Royals their first runner in scoring position since the second inning.
Butto rebounded to retire Pasquantino.
The lefty Ragans allowed five hits over six shutout innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.
Lindor had a shot with the bases loaded in the seventh after reliever John Schreiber walked Marte with two outs.
Lindor swung at Schreiber’s first pitch and popped out to end the inning.
But with the bases loaded in the eighth the Mets capitalized — just enough.
“This game is all about riding energy,” Bader said. “And that continued level of focus on all sides of the baseball is going to allow us to be dangerous down the stretch of ballgames and obviously in the season … it’s a good place to be.”
