Game 22 of 162
Giants 7 - Mets 4 (Oracle Park, San Francisco)
Mets record: 14-8
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Logan Webb (1-4)
LP - David Peterson (1-3)
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.
Brandon Crawford had been struggling mightily this season, hitting .151 going into Saturday's game, but his three run HR off of David Peterson in the first inning gave the Giants a 4-0 lead and put them on a path to victory.
Need to Know
Peterson lasted only 5 innings, giving up seven hits including two home runs, walking one. 64 of his 98 pitches were strikes, but Giants hitters were on him.
Logan Webb was solid in seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk, striking out eight. He gave up two runs early on a double by Daniel Vogelbach and a long home run by Brandon Nimmo, but settled in nicely and gave the Giants some length.
The Ex-Met brigade was strong today against Peterson. Michael Conforto singled in the first inning to set up Crawford's home run. Darin Ruf singled in the second to drive in the fifth run of the game. And the capper was Wilmer Flores' solo home run in the fifth.
Edwin Uceta made his Mets debut and was solid in three innings of work, walking two but otherwise not giving up any hits, saving the bullpen.
Turning Point
There was some back and forth after Crawford's home run, but Brandon Nimmo had just made another great diving catch to rob David Villar of something more than a sac fly, so if Peterson had gotten Crawford out to end the inning, it would have been an entirely different ballgame.
Instead ...
Three Keys
The Giants had struggled against lefties this season, hitting .205 coming into Saturday's game. Joey Lucchesi exploited that on Friday night, but Peterson could not. Peterson's numbers against lefties coming into the game in 25 plate appearances: a .333 average and an OPS of 1.250. Crawford's home run was the fourth that Peterson gave up to a lefty so far this year.
While Webb had a good outing, the Mets helped him out by running into a couple of outs in the third and fourth innings. Starling Marte was caught stealing in the third, while Jeff McNeil was thrown out at third trying to advance on a dirt ball read. Marte's caught stealing immediately followed Brandon Nimmo's home run to cut the lead to 6-2, and Webb got to face Francisco Lindor with two outs and nobody on. McNeil was thrown out at third with runners on first and second with one out and Daniel Vogelbach up. Both outs took a lot of pressure off Webb, who could have had a completely different outing otherwise.
The Mets also had an eighth inning rally going once they got to the Giants' bullpen. When Marte singled home Brett Baty to make it 7-3, there were two runners on base with one out and Francisco Lindor coming up against Scott Alexander. Lindor worked the count to 3-1, but flew out to left center on a high strike before Alonso grounded out hard to shortstop to end the inning and the threat. Can't get on Lindor for swinging at a 3-1 strike and being aggressive. But I wonder if at some point (not now because the Mets are in a good enough stretch offensively) the best place in the lineup for Lindor will wind up being behind Alonso instead of ahead of him, taking advantage of Lindor's aggressiveness.