Giants 8 Mets 7 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 21-29
Mets streak: Lost 4
WP - Nick Avila (1-0)
LP - Reed Garrett (5-2)
SV - Camilo Doval (9)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Patrick Bailey's grand slam in the 8th capped off a five run inning off Reed Garrett which gave the Giants their third straight 4+ run comeback victory. The 1999 Marlins were the last team to pull this off (against the Giants.) The 1932 Cardinals were the last team to do this on the road. It was Bailey's first career grand slam.
Need to Know
Reed Garrett gave up five runs in the 8th inning, including the grand slam by Bailey to give the Giants the lead. Garrett's ERA went from 1.04 to 2.67.
Jorge Lopez gave up a home run to Mike Yastrzemski in the 9th for an insurance run which the Giants cashed in on in the ninth, as Francisco Lindor's RBI single off the wall made it 8-7.
The Mets then had the bases loaded with two outs and a 3-0 count on Mark Vientos, who would ground into the final out on a great play by Matt Chapman (more on this in the keys.)
Edwin Diaz made his return to the boxscore on Friday. He pitched the 7th inning and struck out two batters in a scoreless frame.
The Mets hit three home runs for the third straight game, and it's the first time in team history that it has happened. J.D. Martinez and Mark Vientos went back to back in the 5th, and Pete Alonso crushed on in the 7th. All were solo shots.
The 2022 Diamondbacks were the last team to hit three straight home runs in three games and lose all three. The Mets became the fifth team in history to do this.
Christian Scott went six innings and gave up two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out four.
Francisco Lindor's double in the first inning was his third straight double. He almost had a fourth in the third but Luis Matos robbed him of a hit.
Alonso went 2 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs. Coming into the game, Alonso had hit .278 with an OPS of .861 since he moved to the second spot in the order (8 games)
Brandon Nimmo was hit in the C-flap by a pitch in the 3rd, and staggered to the point where it seemed that being pulled from the game was inevitable. But he stayed in, and was fine the rest of the way.
Turning Point
I'd say a grand slam qualifies.
We'll discuss this more in the ...
Three Keys
The Road Back Begins in the 7th
Edwin Diaz made his first appearance since blowing a four run lead to the Miami Marlins last Saturday. It was with a three run lead in the 7th inning, a relatively safe spot. Diaz was still hovering around 96-97 on his fastball, but his slider was very effective, and he dialed it up to 98 (or 99, depending on if you believe ESPN's account or SNY's radar gun) to strike out Heliot Ramos to end the inning.
The Road Block Goes Up In the 8th
Reed Garrett had a four run lead to work with in the 8th, and as soon as Gary Cohen said "The Giants have been scoring late lately", Yastrzemski rolled a hit off the third base bag, and Marco Luciano reached on another soft hit and everyone started to get nervous. (At least I did.)
Garrett then got the next to out, but Thairo Estrada doubled a run home to make it 6-3. Then, Garrett threw a seven pitch walk to Chapman where the pitchers out of the zone were way out of the zone. That's when I thought it was time to pull Garrett, especially with Adam Ottavino warm in the 'pen. But Mendoza managed passively, and Garrett gave up the grannie.
The Road Ends in the 9th
Down 8-6 after the home run off Lopez, the Mets fought back. Yastrzemski botched a fly ball by D.J. Stewart and turned it into a double. Brett Baty came up to pinch hit and Estrada robbed him of an RBI hit with help from a pick by LaMonte Wade (which would become a theme.)
Francisco Lindor would then slam one off the wall so hard it would only be an RBI single, which kept the double play in order. And when Alonso grounded one to Luciano at shortstop, it looked like a double play would be exactly what happened.
Honestly, I thought I had a new turning point.
After the gift by Luciano, pinch runner Tyrone Taylor stole second without a throw which lead to the Giants walking Nimmo to set up the double play again. Camilo Doval then struck out J.D. Martinez for the second out. But then Doval went 3-0 on Vientos and a Mets win was starting to seem probable. But Doval got the count back to 3-2, and then Matt Chapman teamed with Wade to make an unreal play to break the Mets' hearts again.
Giants fans most likely recalled their slogan: "Giants Baseball ... Torture!" during this game. But if Giants baseball is torture, what would the Mets have called this game?
Back at it tomorrow, for more of that torture.
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