Story by @BrooksKnudsen
The early-season buzz is starting to wear off as we find ourselves in the fifth week of Giants baseball. It’s been a mixed bag of good wins and bad losses, hot and cold streaks for players, and a fair share of frustration, as yesterday manager Bob Melvin earned already his second ejection.
Statistics are starting to tell a story, with offensive production from Matt Chapman, Thairo Estrada, Mike Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores, Nick Ahmed, Austin Slater, and Tom Murphy registering below league average in wRC+. On the pitching side, the only rotation arm with a strikeout-per-inning is the ever-struggling Blake Snell. The entire pitching staff as a whole has collected just a 19.7 K%, the third worst figure in MLB. And if you’re wondering how the defense has fared thus far — their 13 errors and -1 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) have been middle of the pack.
Old pal Jose Quintana was on the mound for the visiting team, with a lingering memory of being left off the Giants’ postseason roster in 2021. His Mets, coming off a series victory against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, have been on a roll lately, having won eight of their last 10 contests. Giants’ young righty Keaton Winn was tasked with containing a powerful lineup, led by home run enjoyer Pete Alonso.
Putting the ball in play would be an ideal plan this week against a Mets team that’s had an ugly defensive showing in April, ranking last in DRS (-12) and the most errors (17) in the National League. Exploiting the opponent’s weakness should always be number one.
After pulling a ball down the line just foul in the second inning, Ahmed became the beneficiary of that troubled New York defense when his grounder bounced off Shortstop Francisco Lindor’s glove and rolled into shallow center field for a two-run single and the first lead of the ballgame. SF doubled their lead when Chapman doubled home a pair the very next inning, assisted by Brandon Nimmo not being able to read the bounces of the ball in left field. DE-FENSE! Cashing in with runners aboard is a thing of beauty. Even though the Giants only went 2-for-9 with Runners In Scoring Position, they made those two count.
Winn had a nice outing, receiving some help from his defense right away when Slater cut down Starling Marte at second base. He logged six innings with six punchouts and a walk, his lone earned run going up on the scoreboard while Alonso was trotting the bases. Longtime Met Michael Conforto torched a solo shot of his own to get that run right back.
Righties Ry Walker and Ty Rogers recorded hitless, scoreless innings to form a steady bridge to the ninth inning where Camilo Doval was waiting. That’s when things got screwy. After a walk and an out, Doval ran to cover first on a bouncer to the right side, but couldn’t collect the feed from Flores for an E-1. A run-scoring wild pitch, a ground-out, and a walk set up a shaky situation. Powerful lefty DJ Stewart came to the plate representing the tying run, but Doval buckled down and induced a 4-3 putout to end the threat.
Prior to the game, RHP Nick Avila was optioned to AAA Sacramento to make room for RHP Luke Jackson’s reinstatement from the 15-Day Injured List. Notably missing from the Mets’ lineup was DH J.D. Martinez, who is expected to make his team debut sometime next week.
San Francisco will try to take the series tomorrow night at 6:45pm PT. Logan Webb and Luis Severino are the probable starters.
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