NEW YORK -- Spokesperson Jay Horwitz stepped out of a back room inside the New York Mets clubhouse Tuesday night and delivered the news to the two dozen or so reporters milling about waiting to talk to Yoenis Cespedes.

"He left," Horwitz said.

Turns out Cespedes had nothing left to say after a moment that said it all.

Cespedes tied the game by hitting a three-run pinch-hit homer on the first pitch he saw in four days and David Wright laced the go-ahead RBI single three batters later as the Mets stormed back to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3, at Citi Field.

"You just shake your head," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Special people do special things."

And in Cespedes' case, with an air of mystery to boot.

Cespedes hadn't played since Friday due to a deep bruise in his leg suffered on April 13, when he dove into the stands for a fly ball he had little chance of catching. On Tuesday night, Collins said he began checking on Cespedes' availability with hitting coach Kevin Long around the fifth inning.

The Mets were being shut out on three hits through 6 1/3 innings by Reds left-hander Brandon Finnegan, but Collins asked again about Cespedes when Juan Lagares walked and went to third on a single by Kevin Plawecki.

Left-handed hitting Lucas Duda stepped into the on-deck circle as Reds manager Bryan Price went to the mound to visit with Finnegan. Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" blasted from the loudspeakers.

"When I thought they might make the change, I said 'Well, I gotta run him up there,' because I don't know who they're bringing in," Collins said. "Worst-case scenario, if they bring in a righty, I can always say 'Hey look, if you don't think you can hit, that's fine.'"

After pondering all the possibilities of what Collins might do, Price decided to stay with Finnegan, who was pitching in the seventh inning for just the second time in nine career starts.

"It looked like Lucas Duda was going to come up to hit, and so if he's going to hit there against Finnegan, then Cespedes isn't healthy," Price said. "If I bring in (right-hander Caleb) Cotham, then they flip around and get to hit Duda there with a healthy player. That was one of my considerations."

Meanwhile, Collins said it took longer than he expected for Cespedes to actually emerge from the batting cage, which left Duda standing in the on-deck circle.

"I had no idea what was going on," Plawecki said. "I was confused. I was even talking to (Reds first baseman Joey) Votto. He was like 'What's going on?' I said 'I'm just as confused as you are.'"

Finally, Cespedes stepped out of the dugout as the crowd of 26,978 roared.

"He just walked in the dugout taping his wrists at the same time," Collins said before laughing. "A little late. But he got there."

With the crowd of 26,978 roaring, Cespedes crushed Finnegan's first pitch off the orange home run line atop the left field fence. It was the 23rd homer Cespedes has hit in 73 regular season games for the Mets, whom he led to the World Series following his acquisition from the Detroit Tigers minutes before the trading deadline last July 31.

"It was like out of a movie scene," Wright said. "All we needed was fans to start chanting his name and him come out, have five bats in his hand and start throwing them in the dugout. Go up there, pick his chosen one and hit a homer.

"I don't even know if he had any practice swings. Went up there and hit a three-run homer with the game on the line. That's impressive."

Curtis Granderson greeted losing pitcher Tony Cingrani with a triple and scored on Wright's two-out single to left.

The stunning rally made a winner out of Logan Verrett, who threw two scoreless innings to earn the victory for the second straight night. Addison Reed pitched a hitless eighth and Jeurys Familia worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save of the season for the Mets (12-7), who have won five straight and 10 of 12.

Starter Bartolo Colon allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out four in five innings.

The Reds took their 3-0 lead via a third-inning sacrifice fly by Joey Votto and a two-run homer by Ivan DeJesus in the fourth. Cincinnati (9-12) has lost three straight and 11 of 15.

"We're losing," Cingrani said. "It's not fun."

Finnegan allowed three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five in 6 1/3 innings.

NOTES: Mets RHP Bartolo Colon became the 136th player to reach 3,000 career innings upon recoding his second out of the first inning. ... The Mets placed C Travis d'Arnaud (strained right rotator cuff) on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of C Rene Rivera from Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Reds 2B Brandon Phillips (shin, ring finger) sat out Tuesday night. He endured a painful at-bat in the fourth inning on Monday, when he fouled two balls off his shin before being hit on the left ring finger by a pitch from Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard. ... Reds RF Jay Bruce and his wife welcomed their first child, a boy, on Monday night.