Jason Heyward’s pinch-hit single gives the Chicago Cubs a 4-3 win in 10 innings and a sweep of the New York Mets

Left out of the Chicago Cubs starting lineup the last two nights against left-handers, Jason Heyward was ready for his opportunity Thursday night at Wrigley Field.

It finally came in the 10th inning, and Heyward responded with a bases-loaded RBI single to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over the New York Mets.

Javier Baez came home with the winning run as the Cubs swept the three-game series and evened their record at 9-9.

“It’s a new situation, but it’s a part of it,” Heyward said. “To want to get where you want to be as a team, you’ve got to do things you’re not always called on to do. You just try to be ready for that. I think we all did it as a group early this year, just spoke on that briefly, knowing its going to take a sacrifice to get somewhere new.

“If it means me doing that, or somebody else doing something different out of their comfort zone, it’s awesome to be able to come through right there.”

Baez started the extra inning on second base before Mets reliever Edwin Diaz plunked Matt Duffy, and both runners advanced on David Bote’s sacrifice bunt on an inside, 99 mph fastball. After an intentional walk to Eric Sogard loaded the bases, Heyward’s pinch-hit single to right field ended it.

Six Mets pitchers combined to strike out 14 Cubs hitters and it was another tough night at the plate for Baez, who struck out three times and jogged to first on a bloop single in the seventh after smashing his bat into the ground believing he had popped out.

The ball dropped in for a single, but Baez could’ve been on second had he hustled out of the box.

“I’ve talked to Javy about that,” manager David Ross said.

Could Baez have gotten to second?

“We discussed it,” Ross replied. “I was watching the outfield at the moment. I’ve talked to Javy about it. Thanks.”

Even after the ball dropped into right field and he reached base, Baez was called out when a throw behind him caught him by surprise. But the call was overturned upon review after video showed first baseman Pete Alonso had his arm on Baez but never tagged him.

In the end, all was forgiven as the Cubs pulled off their first sweep of the season.

The Cubs were hitless against Mets left-hander Joey Lucchesi in the third when Jake Marisnick and pitcher Trevor Williams drew back-to-back, one-out walks. After Marisnick advanced on a fly to right, Willson Contreras’ infield hit brought home the first run. Kris Bryant followed with a two-run double off the left-field wall to make it 3-0.

Alonso’s two-run home run off Williams in the fourth pulled the Mets within a run, and Michael Conforto followed with a double that was inches from being a game-tying home run. But Williams got out of the inning with no further damage, and he struck out four of the final seven batters he faced before being removed after the fifth. Williams allowed two runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

The Mets tied it off the Cubs bullpen in the seventh when Jason Adam hit Jonathan Villar with a pitch and Ryan Tepera gave up a run-scoring double to pinch-hitter J.D. Davis.

Marisnick’s leadoff triple in the eighth off Aaron Loup put the Cubs in position to take the lead into the ninth. But Loup induced Austin Romine to pop out to second and then struck out Ian Happ. Miguel Castro came on in relief and struck out Contreras for the final out of the inning.

Bryant singled off Diaz leading off the ninth, but Anthony Rizzo and Baez struck out, and Bryant was thrown out on a steal attempt to end the inning.

Ross complained about the replay confirmation that ruled Bryant came off the bag.

“I thought he had the bag,” he said. “Whether he popped up for a millisecond or not, we’ve seen some of the things come in with replay that are probably not the reason we brought in replay, but whatever. We won the game. We’re happy.”

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Reliever Dan Winkler walked two in the top of the 10th to load the bases with one out before getting out of the jam with a double-play ground ball.

The Cubs have won seven straight against the Mets.

“We’re starting to ride that flow,” Williams said.

Cubs outfielder Joc Pederson was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game with left wrist tendinitis.

Ross said Pederson saw a specialist after the injury crept up the last day or two. He said there was no need for an MRI at this point and didn’t know how long Pederson would be out.

“It’s an important part of the body for hitting,” Ross said. “We’ll rely on him and kind of progress accordingly. The hope around here is it’s hopefully not (long term).”