Indians 8, Mets 1: Scott Kazmir struck out a season-high 12 over six scoreless innings and Nick Swisher added a late grand slam as host Cleveland won its third straight game.

Kazmir (8-7) allowed four singles and did not issue a walk in snapping a personal three-game losing streak. Carlos Santana drove in a pair of runs for the Indians, who moved within two games of Tampa Bay in the race for the American League’s second wild-card spot and remained 6 1/2 behind AL Central-leading Detroit.

Justin Turner’s solo shot in the seventh accounted for the Mets’ only offense. Rookie Zack Wheeler (7-4) yielded three runs - two earned - and matched a career high with five walks over five frames.

Santana sparked the offense in the first with a sacrifice fly and added an RBI single in the fifth. With the Indians holding a 4-1 lead in the eighth, Swisher put the game out of reach when he hammered a 1-2 slider from Tim Byrdak over the fence in left field for his eighth career grand slam.

Kazmir struck out the side in the first, third and sixth innings and only gave up two infield hits after the third before departing after 97 pitches. Cody Allen served up Turner’s first homer since Sept. 25, 2012 before Joe Smith worked a scoreless eighth, and Matt Albers struck out a pair in the ninth to close it out.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Kazmir, who was 0-3 with a 7.11 ERA over his previous four starts, fell one strikeout shy of the career-high 13 he recorded against Oakland on Aug. 25, 2007. … The Mets struck out 15 times to run their season total to 1,190 – the second-highest mark in the National League. … Indians LF Michael Brantley left the team prior to the game, returning to his Florida home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Jason Kubel replaced him in left field and Drew Stubbs started in right.