Henry Blanco hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning, lifting the New York Mets to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.

It marked the second straight game that the Mets’ bullpen failed to hold a lead but was bailed out with a walk-off homer from a catcher. Rod Barajas hit a two-run shot in the ninth in the series opener.

Relievers Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano each surrendered singles to the only batters they faced in the eighth - the latter an RBI single to left by Aubrey Huff - that allowed the Giants to tie it at 4-4.

It stayed that way until Blanco's shot off Guillermo Mota (0-1) ended it.

Hisanori Takahashi (3-1) pitched a perfect 11th for the win, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

The Mets staked starter Johan Santana to a 3-0 lead on Jason Bay's sacrifice fly in the first and Angel Pagan's two-run triple in the second.

The Giants cut into the lead on Huff's sacrifice fly and Juan Uribe's RBI single in the fourth. But Bay added an RBI single in the fifth to make it 4-2.

Santana left with one out in the eighth and New York clinging to a 4-3 lead before the Giants tied it. The left-hander was charged with all four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.