The Giants overcame another significant deficit to defeat the incredible New York Mets 8-7 on Friday night. Patrick Bailey blasted a game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning, while Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman kept San Francisco afloat with a brilliant defensive play.
The Giants became the only major league club since 1900 to win three straight road games in which they trailed by at least four runs after rallying from a 6-2 deficit in the eighth inning. The other team was the 1932 St. Louis Cardinals.
There are just two other teams who have achieved the feat at home: the 1961 Boston Red Sox and the 1999 Florida Marlins (versus San Francisco). The only teams to win all three after trailing by four runs in the sixth inning or later are the Marlins and the Giants.
Manager Bob Melvin stated, “It’s the same thing the last three days: We’re just fighting to the finish,” “When we get guys on base, there’s just a really good feeling in the dugout that someone’s going to come up with a big hit.”
The Mets, trailing 8-6 in the ninth inning, staged a comeback of their own. After loading the bases with one out following Francisco Lindor’s RBI single off the right-field fence, Camilo Doval struck out slugger J.D. Martinez on three pitches to seal the victory.
On Mark Vientos, Doval went behind 3-0 but rallied to a full count and forced a sluggish bouncer to third. In a game of life or death, Chapman charged, barehanded the ball, and shot off balance across the diamond to first base, where LaMonte Wade Jr. made a tough in-between hop pick for the last out.
Melvin described it as “fantastic, on both ends of it.” “I didn’t think he had a chance to make that play.”
An energised Chapman dashed to the dugout railing to get a line of high fives to his glove from teammates, and after a short replay, the first base out was promptly confirmed.
“I think it’s the most excited I’ve ever gotten after a play,” Chapman stated. “To be able to have a walk-off play on defense like that with the bases loaded, game on the line, I think that’s probably the best one, for sure. Kind of surprised myself even a little bit there, so it was just a lot of fun.”
Or to quote Bailey: “My goodness, that was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen made on a baseball field.”
The Giants (26-26) also had home runs from Jorge Soler and Mike Yastrzemski. They won their seventh straight game and moved above.500 for the first time since they were 2-2 on March 31.
After Chapman walked to load the bases and Thairo Estrada hit an RBI double, San Francisco was down 6-2 with two outs in the eighth inning. Bailey then blasted a 2-0 fastball from Reed Garrett (5-2) to right center, his first career grand slam.
Carlos Mendoza, manager of the Mets, said of Garrett, “He’s been really consistent for us the whole year and he just happened to have a bad inning today.”
Bailey had not hit a home run since April 26. After spending his second stay on the seven-day concussion disabled list, the switch-hitting catcher was reinstated on Tuesday.
To make it 8–6, Yastrzemski added a single homer off Jorge Lopez in the ninth inning. San Francisco also overcame a 5-0 hole in the fifth inning to win 9-5 away from Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, they overcame a 6-2 deficit in the eighth to defeat the Pirates 7-6.
The Giants had never come back from a four-run deficit to win three straight road games before this past week.
Bailey declared, “That was a hell of a win,”
With four straight losses and 11 of 14 games played, New York (21-29) is off to its worst 50-game start since 2013. The Mets, who became the fifth team to lose three straight games in which they hit three home runs in each, were led by Pete Alonso, Vientos, and Martinez with home runs in the first game of a crucial 10-game homestand.
“What a stretch, mind boggling. I know how disheartening this is for our fans,” Mets owner Steve Cohen wrote on social networking platform X, and thanked “for caring so much.”
Christian Scott lost his first career victory due to the latest collapse of New York’s bullpen, as the rookie starter gave up two runs and two hits in six innings of work.
Mendoza stated, “Obviously, we’re angry,” “But at the same time, you have to stay positive. You’ve got to keep going.”
In two innings of one-run ball, Nick Avila (1-0) struck out four batters to earn his first major league victory. With Chapman’s assistance, Doval recorded his eleventh save. Wade and Estrada had just seconds before produced another outstanding defensive play on the right side of the infield.
In the fifth, rookie Kyle Harrison allowed Martinez and Vientos to hit their first back-to-back home runs for New York this season.
