Agbayani the latest Mets last-at-bat hero

NEW YORK -- Benny Agbayani was still stewing Saturday night as he strode to the plate in the bottom of the 13th inning of what was easily becoming an epic playoff game.

The day was full of goats and heroes, as games like this always are. Agbayani knew that the Mets probably already would have won this interminable game if only he could have laid down a bunt after the Mets had put two men on with nobody out in the 11th inning.

Benny Agbayani rides off the field on his teammates' shoulders after beating the Giants.(AP)

But baseball is full of opportunities and Agbayani -- the Hawaii native who toiled away for some six years in the Mets minor league system -- chose not to let the next one pass.

"I was looking for something to hit over the fence," Agbayani said. "By that time, you gotta do something."

After all, his teammates were laying down the law in the dugout.

"John Franco, Turk Wendell and Al Leiter, they just told me to go up there and be the man," Agbayani said.

So the comfortably pudgy Agbayani took a ridiculously fat offering from Giants reliever Aaron Fultz and launched it into the Shea Stadium night and over the left field fence. The shot gave the Mets an exhilarating 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants that left them one victory away from reaching the NLCS for the second consecutive year.

By this stage of the playoffs, certain teams start to take on a look of destiny. The Mets, after shaking off a Game 1 loss and pulling out back-to-back extra-inning victories, are starting to look as if they have fate on their side.

Adding to that theory is that the Braves -- the one team the Mets are psyched out by -- were knocked out of the playoffs earlier on Saturday by the red-hot Cardinals.

However, the Mets -- who pulled off a similar epic against the Braves in Game 5 of last year's NLCS only to lose the series in six games -- shouldn't book those NLCS reservations to St. Louis just yet.

The Giants, with the game's most inspirational manager in Dusty Baker and a team that has conquered challenges all year, won't be an easy out. You can be sure of that.

Baker has preached all year about his team's resiliency, and it's a theme he won't abandon, even after two of the most gut-wrenching losses a team could have.

"My feelings are the same," Baker said. "This team is still going to bounce back. We always bounce back. That was a huge home run that Benny Agbayani hit in the 14th or 13th inning, I don't know what inning it was, it was long. But it was a heck of a ballgame."

Baker has a right to lose track of innings when a game takes five hours and 22 minutes to complete.

As this series continues to gain steam, the only tragedy is that it isn't a best of seven. The last two games have been classics, both won by the Mets, and now Baker has to get one win out of his troops to send this thing back to the Bay for a decisive Game 5.

But with one swing of the bat, Agbayani has put the Mets in control. Not bad when you consider he was agonizingly close to being sent back to the minor leagues in April. Agbayani was caught in a numbers game and he was the only player on the bubble who still had options.

Fortunately for the Mets, Darryl Hamilton hurt his toe and Agbayani -- who blossomed last season after years of obscurity -- again became a fixture in the Mets outfield.

"That was the only reason he was going to be sent down, because of options," said Mets manager Bobby Valentine, long ago nominated president of Agbayani's fan club. "It wasn't because of his ability, that's for sure. Things broke his way and he got to stay from Day 1 and I don't know where we'd be without him."

Probably on the brink of elimination instead of on the cusp of advancing.

"It was like the Survivor game," said Agbayani. "I was the only survivor, still here, and the only thing I didn't get was probably the million dollars. It's a great feeling and it's a blessing that I'm still here."

For hours, this was a game begging for someone to take over.

By the bottom of the 11th, things were so tense that the crowd of 56,220 was almost silent -- too nervous it seemed to even exhale. And this was with the Mets having runners on first and second with no outs, and later the bases loaded with two outs.

Giants' flame-throwing reliever Felix Rodriguez threw some 36 pitches in the inning and broke three of Jay Payton's bats before striking out the Rookie of the Year candidate.

By the time the 12th rolled around, Mike Piazza, the Mets superstar catcher, had to endure the agony of taking in the festivities from the bench. Valentine had pinch run for him after he led off the 11th with a single. And the Mets had exhausted their bench to the point that Robin Ventura, the career third baseman, was forced to play first.

Russ Davis was the only non-pitcher Dusty Baker had left on his bench, while Valentine was left with Bubba Trammell.

All the numerous events of the day had become a blur as the game passed five hours. That's what happens during classic playoff games, which this one easily qualified as.

But there were things that shouldn't be forgotten amid all the chaos.

For example, the Mets tying the game off Robb Nen in the bottom of the eighth when Edgardo Alfonzo smoked an RBI double down the left-field line. Nen hadn't blown a save since July 2.

This came just a game after Alfonzo had swatted what proved to be a pivotal ninth inning homer off Rodriguez in Game 2.

There was also the five no-hit innings of Giants starter Russ Ortiz; and the continued October futility of future Hall of Famers Barry Bonds and Piazza.

Finally, though, a hero stepped up and shed the goat horns.

"It was aggravating," said Agbayani of his failed bunt in the 11th. "But you know, you've got to redeem yourself some time, and when I came up, I told myself I was going to redeem myself right there."