Mets' bullpen holds down Atlanta after Griffin Canning leaves start with possible Achilles injury

Griffin Canning made his pitch and went to take a step on what would be a groundout to short, pushing off on his left foot. He immediately hobbled for a bit before going down to the ground near the mound.

He was on his back, left leg in the air, bent at the knee. This didn’t look good.

The Mets had lost yet another starter to injury.

Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and Tylor Megill were already on the injured list. And there was Canning finally walking off slowly with his arms around two athletic trainers for support in the third inning of their series finale against Atlanta Thursday night at Citi Field.

Yet the home team still won despite the latest rotation loss after four relievers teamed to deliver 6 1/3 innings of terrific two-hit work. The Mets blanked Atlanta, 4-0, on a combined three-hitter to earn a split of the four-game series and retake the top rung in the NL East standings from Philadelphia by a half-game.

Canning was sent for an MRI. The Mets weren’t expecting good news.

“We think it’s an Achilles,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

At the time of the injury, Canning was pitching well. The 29-year-old righthander allowed one hit and no walks and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings. He’s 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 16 starts.

So he joins the sidelined staff.

Senga is out with a strained right hamstring. Megill has a sprained right elbow. And Manaea is trying to come back from a strained right oblique. He had a setback this week when a loose body was discovered in his left elbow. But the Mets are hopeful he can make his rehab start next week and that he’s close to a return.

If they’re sweating over being down all these starters, they’re not letting it show.

“No one’s going to feel sorry for us,” Mendoza said. “So we’ll find a way. Guys will step up. Our mentality is, what do we need to do today? I’m pretty confident in the guys that we’ve got in that room. I’m pretty confident that the guys that will come up will give us opportunities to win baseball games and we’ll continue to do so.”

The Mets, now up to 48-34, took a 1-0 edge against starter Grant Holmes (4-7) in the fourth on a sac fly by Tyrone Taylor.

They doubled the lead the following inning on an RBI single by Pete Alonso.

Jeff McNeil doubled that lead by lining a two-run single to center off Dylan Dodd in the seventh.

The bullpen, meanwhile, dominated in nailing down those 19 outs after Canning departed.

Austin Warren was summoned to replace him after being called up from Syracuse earlier in the day. The 29-year-old righty is close with Canning. They were teammates with the Angels.

“Griff’s a great guy,” Warren said. “I hate that it happened to him tonight.”

Warren said his “adrenaline took over.” He immediately stranded a runner at second and yielded no runs and one hit over 2 1/3 to earn the victory.

Dedniel Nunez, who spent much of the first half with Syracuse after being a big contributor here last year, took the next two innings and retired six straight, four via strikeouts, including the side in the seventh.

“I’m proud of myself,” Nunez said via an interpreter. “I felt like I’m finally me again.”

Atlanta (37-43) then saw Ryan Stanek, who had a 1-2-3 eighth. And Edwin Diaz allowed a two-out single, then finished it off.

“Unbelievable job,” Mendoza said of his bullpen.

So the Mets move on to Pittsburgh, undaunted by the injury misfortune.

“We are a resilient bunch,” Alonso said, “and we stick together.”

Notes & quotes: The Mets plan to reinstate Mark Vientos (hamstring) from the IL for Friday night’s game. “Oh man, it’s good to be back with the guys and seeing a bunch of faces that I miss,” Vientos said after returning from his rehab assignment with Syracuse. … Jesse Winker (oblique) took batting practice. “He’s not favoring anything,” Mendoza said, adding that Winker is on schedule to begin a rehab assignment as a DH Sunday, likely with Brooklyn. … Righty Jonathan Pintaro was optioned after making his major-league debut as a reliever Wednesday night.