Chris Young leads Mets into tie for 1st place

The Mets may just have picked themselves up a bargain in the offseason with former Padre Chris Young.

For an economical — the offseason buzzword for 2011 — base salary of $1.1 million, the 6-foot-10 right-hander did it all last night in the Mets’ third straight win, a 7-1 decision over talent-packed Philadelphia.

The 31-year-old Young allowed five hits and a run during 51⁄3 innings before another one of general manager Sandy Alderson’s thrift-shop pickups, D.J. Carrasco, took over with two on. Not only did Young keep the Phillies guessing with a fastball-changeup mix, but he worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth when he got powerful Phillies slugger Ryan Howard to tap into a groundout.

Young hit, too, tying a club record for pitchers with three base knocks, including two during a six-run third inning that knocked out Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels and made Young the only Mets pitcher to notch two hits in an inning. Young’s last hit in the third produced the inning’s final run; he had scored its first after a leadoff single.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement,” Young said. “But I’m happy with what I did tonight.”

During the third, Hamels gave up a two-run single to David Wright, and three other run-scoring hits to Ike Davis, Brad Emaus and Young. Another scored on a passed ball. The Mets sent 11 batters to the plate.

Hamels, the one-time No. 1 starter who now sits behind luminaries Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, continued the spring training struggles that saw his ERA soar above 6.00.

Wright finished 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.

Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell followed Carrasco to finish the win, which moved the 3-1 Mets into a first-place tie with Philly.