Boppin' in the Bay: Francisco Lindor leads the way in Mets rout

Mets 8 Giants 1 (Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA)

Mets record: 60-44

Mets streak: Won 5

WP - Clay Holmes (9-5)

LP - Logan Webb (9-8)

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.

Cue the Jaws theme, because Francisco is back. His five hits in two games after going 31 at-bats without a hit is a welcome sign, and his three hits tonight led the way in an 8-1 Mets victory in San Francisco.

Need to Know

• The Mets' win keeps them a half game in front of the Phillies, who beat the Yankees earlier tonight, for first place in the NL East.

• Brandon Nimmo's leadoff double in the first inning extends his on base streak to 18 games. He would finish at 2-for-5 with 2 RBI on the night.

• Nimmo and Lindor combined to go 5-for-10 with three extra base hits and three RBI.

• Lindor, Nimmo, and Tyrone Taylor all stole bases for the Mets, giving them a streak of 25 straight steals without being caught.

• Clay Holmes went his customary five innings, giving up just one run on six hits and a walk. Holmes lowered his ERA to 3.40 on the season.

• Huascar Brazoban, Rico Garcia, and Jose Castillo combined to throw four scoreless innings to take the Mets home.

Turning Point

A turning point in a 6-1 game that doesn't involve a comeback is a reach by me. But the Giants had their best chance in the 5th inning after a tiring Clay Holmes gave up hits to the 8th and 9th hitters, and all of a sudden he had to face the top of the order while he was approaching 100 pitches in the 5th. It was the whitest of white knuckle sequences in the entire game.

But Holmes got Heliot Ramos to pop up, then fooled Rafael Devers into a strikeout before facing Willy Adames, who grinded a 10 pitch at-bat against Holmes in the first inning.

Holmes matched his season high of 104 pitches in his five innings of work. It also turned around his recent RISP numbers, which included a .667 batting average against in his last three games with no strikeouts, after only giving up a BAA of .111 with 16 strikeouts previously.

Three Keys

Webb Of Deceit

Logan Webb was not himself tonight. You could tell in first inning when only 10 out of 19 landed for strikes when he gave up two runs on productive outs by Juan Soto and Pete Alonso.

After that, Webb was wild in the strike zone, giving up six runs in four innings on eight hits and a walk.

Webb was 3-1 against the Mets in his career with a 2.13 ERA in 38 innings before tonight. For the Mets to tag one of the better pitchers in the league is a boon.

Coming Through Clean On The Other Side

The guy who endured an 0-for-31 slump is heating up a bit. His three hits tonight give him five in his last two games. His first two hits were also important, as his first hit was a single that was integral in their first two runs of the game.

His second hit was this missile off Webb:

It made it 3-1 in the 3rd and the Mets would not look back after that. Lindor added a double for posterity in the 9th.

If the Mets win the division, it will be noted that they somehow survived an 0-for-31 slump by going 3-3 during those Lindor at-bats. Now that he's hot, the Mets are in a much better position to go on a huge run.

Rico Suave

The big news today, of course, is the acquisition of Gregory Soto to help shore up the bullpen. It's worth noting that Rico Garcia has been impressive in the low leverage situations for the Mets this season. He pitched two perfect innings (with three K's) tonight to extend his Mets scoreless streak to 7 and 2/3's innings this season.

OF course I have to quantify that it's a Mets scoreless inning streak because in the middle of it, he pitched a game for the Yankees and gave up three runs to Atlanta in 2 and 2/3's innings (which I totally missed because I was out of the country.)

There will be plenty of relievers to get the Mets through the important innings (with perhaps one more being added), but it's nice to not have a gas can for the low leverage innings that pitchers will need to eat at some points.