PITTSBURGH — By his count, Fernando Tatis was wearing three ice packs. His left ankle and thigh were wrapped, as was his left side, as he hobbled through the Mets’ clubhouse Thursday evening, a walking (gingerly), talking (excitedly) symbol of his team’s resilience.

In defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-8 in 10 innings, at PNC Park, the Mets overcame two rain delays, a miserable performance by their starting pitcher, a five-run deficit and a ninth-inning meltdown by their closer, Francisco Rodriguez.

Tatis scored the winning run, racing home on Ryan Church’s second straight game-winning hit, after being hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Wincing as he jogged to first, Tatis surprised the Pirates by stealing second and perhaps himself by remaining upright over the final 180 feet on the bases.

“It was painful,” Tatis said. “The whole game was painful.”

The Mets survived their 24-hour stopover in western Pennsylvania to head across the state for a three-game series in Philadelphia with a renewed sense of purpose. They climbed to .500 (39-39) and positioned themselves for a weekend run at the first-place Phillies.

The Mets’ victory reflected Manager Jerry Manuel’s message from his address to the team Tuesday night. Even if for one game, the Mets had enough on their 25-man roster to win: Every starting player had a hit, every pinch-hitter contributed and every reliever but the unused Bobby Parnell played a role.

“We could have just said, ‘Let’s pack up and head to Philadelphia, it’s a short flight, let’s get this out of the way, boom boom boom,’ ” Manuel said. “But they chose to fight. They chose to fight, and I thought that was most impressive.”

In relief of Tim Redding, who may have lost his grip on a starting spot, the bullpen allowed one run over five and two-thirds innings until Rodriguez imploded.

After giving up a two-run home run to Adam LaRoche that tied the game, Rodriguez insisted on being allowed to pitch the 10th inning, his soaring pitch count be damned. He finished with a career regular-season-high 46 pitches, limiting his availability for Friday, but Manuel said: “I wanted him to get his stuff right. If that meant sacrificing a game tomorrow, then that’s what I’ll do.”

The Mets’ recent skid has stirred questions of a leadership void, which Manuel and several players have vehemently denied. Manuel has cited Alex Cora, playing daily with a torn thumb ligament, and David Wright, who campaigned not to have a day off Wednesday, as examples. On Thursday, he added Rodriguez, saying he was pleased that Rodriguez persuaded the manager to allow him to pitch the 10th.

“Sometimes emotion gets in the way and you have to judge and make sense of it,” Manuel said. “But I had to give him that opportunity.”

Rodriguez, who pitched a 1-2-3 10th, called himself “the kind of guy, if you make a mess, clean it up.”

He added: “As a player, you want that, you need that, especially when you feel you’ve let down your teammates, your manager. He gave me the confidence to go back out and shut it down.”

Manuel did not show as much confidence in Redding, saying he would wait until Oliver Perez made his final rehabilitation start for Class AAA Buffalo on Friday before deciding whether Redding would be shifted to the bullpen. He gave up five runs and six hits in two and a third innings, his earned run average swelling to 6.99 through nine starts.

The Mets had not overcome a deficit of at least five runs since Aug. 22, 2006 (against St. Louis), but they gradually chipped away at Pirates starter Paul Maholm. In the fourth, pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy delivered a two-run single. In the fifth, a four-run outburst was fueled by run-scoring singles by Gary Sheffield, Church and Nick Evans and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Jeremy Reed.

“To a man, everybody understands that this is what we’ve got,” Church said. “We’ve got to deal with what we’ve got here. There’s no reinforcements. You can either chief it out and go out there and win ballgames, or you roll over and die. We’ve got too many guys that contribute and help this ball club, and I think today is a sign for it.”

Tatis, one of the Mets’ most valuable components last season, has struggled to produce consistently this year, no matter how many ways or times Manuel has tried to integrate him. The Mets need Tatis to contribute, Manuel said before the game, and he responded by reaching base in his first at-bat, when Maholm drilled him on the left thigh.

Almost immediately, Tatis said, his knee tightened up. It did not prevent him from hitting a two-run homer in the sixth, but he was moved to first base from left field before the ninth.

When he faced Matt Capps with two outs in the 10th, Tatis recoiled as the pitch hit him in the ribs. The Mets thought it too risky to have him try to steal, but a wobbly Tatis bolted for second on his own. On the next pitch, Church dumped a single into center field, and soon after Manuel was comparing Tatis to a former Knicks great, saying, “Willis Reed stole a base.”

Tatis said he did not know who Willis Reed is. When told, he smiled.

“Winning always makes you feel better,” Tatis said.