"Francisco Rodriguez was especially pleased about his two-inning, scoreless performance in yesterday's 3-2 triumph over the Yankees at Citi Field.

"It was huge," the Mets closer said of the 10-inning win. "We didn't want to get swept by them, especially here in our place. We had to find a way to beat them."

The Mets did just that, and Rodriguez played a vital role in the victory.

He pitched around a pair of singles in the ninth with the Yankees leading 2-1 and, after the Mets tied it, he survived a two-out triple by Robinson Cano by getting Russell Martin to ground out to third.

"I haven't felt like that in a while when I got that out," Rodriguez said. "That energy, that satisfaction. Maybe because the fans were into it."

Rodriguez had help in the bullpen from Pedro Beato, who also tossed two shutout innings, as well as from Ronny Paulino, who tied the game with a pinch-hit single off Mariano Rivera with two out in the ninth after falling behind 0-2."