Mets display firepower in slugfest triumph over Giants

It wasn’t Nolan McLean’s sharpest outing, but the Mets gave him enough run support in a 10-6 victory over the Giants in this opening game of the series that it didn’t matter and McLean managed to battle his way through six innings.

McLean worked around a walk to Rafael Devers in the first and it was already clear he was missing arm side early; it was the first of four free passes McLean would issue on the night. Meanwhile, the Mets got started against Tugboat Wilkinson right away in the bottom of the frame.

Francisco Lindor led things off with a single and then with one out, Bo Bichette walked to advance Lindor to second. Mark Vientos then belted an opposite field three-run homer to get the Mets out to an early lead and set the tone for what was to come.

Staked to a three-run lead, McLean retired the Giants in order in the second. The Mets piled on and added to their lead in the bottom of the second. With one out, Francisco Alvarez launched a solo homer to extend the Mets’ lead to 4-0. Nick Morabito then drew a walk and Wilkinson’s nightmares continued as he balked Morabito over to second. The Giants definitely did not pitch well, but they were not helped out by their defense either. Francisco Lindor reached on a fielding error by shortsotp Christian Koss to prolong the inning and then Juan Soto grounded into a force out at second that plated Morabito to give the Mets a 5-0 lead. Soto promptly stole second and then Bo Bichette socked a ball over the fence in left field right into the outstretched hands of an elated fan for the Mets’ second homer of the inning and third of the night. Mark Vientos then also hit a ball hard, but right at the shortstop Koss who fielded it this time. But the Mets had opened up a massive 7-0 lead for McLean to work with.

The Giants got on the board against McLean in the top of the third. McLean struck out the first batter he faced, but then walked Christian Koss. Drew Gilbert followed with a single to advance Koss to third and then Rafael Devers—who provided most of the firepower for the Giants this evening—laced a double into the gap in right center to score both runners and cut the Mets’ lead to 7-2. McLean bounced back to strike out Bryce Eldridge (his fourth strikeout on the night), but then he walked Turner Hill to prolong the inning. Marcus Semien helped McLean out with a nice play on a Jung Hoo Lee grounder to end the inning.

Both teams took a brief break from scoring during the middle innings. Wilkinson lasted just three innings and Yunior Marte came in the game in long relief for the Giants in the fourth and worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless frame. The Giants loaded the bases against McLean in the fifth on a Rafael Devers double, a walk by Bryce Eldridge, and a single by Turner Hill. But McLean escaped the jam by striking out Jung Hoo Lee and inducing a double play grounder off the bat of Drew Cavanaugh; Semien made another really nice play on this ball, flipping it to Lindor as he fell and Lindor made a nice turn to keep the Giants off the board in the inning. McLean came back out for the sixth and was pushed to a career-high 105 pitches. He ended his night with an exclamation mark, striking out Christian Koss for the third out and screaming in triumph as he walked off the mound toward the dugout. It was not smooth sailing for McLean; he had to battle, but he navigated his way through a quality start to ultimately earn his eleventh win of the season.

The Mets once again stretched their lead to seven runs in the bottom of the sixth in Marte’s third inning of relief. Jared Young walked to lead off the inning and then Marte bounced back to retire the next two batters, but then Francisco Lindor sent an absolute no-doubter into the upper deck down the right field line for the Mets’ fourth long ball of the night.

The Giants scratched out a run against Jefry Yan in the top of the seventh. Jonah Cox, pinch hitting for Drew Gilbert, singled to lead off the inning. Yan then leapt into the air after striking out Devers, but walked Bryce Eldridge to advance Cox to second. Turner Hill then notched an RBI single to chip away at the Mets’ lead. Yan logged a second strikeout in the inning and then the Giants pinch hit Andrew Knizner for catcher Drew Cavanaugh, prompting Andy Green to turn to Austin Warren. Warren came though, striking out Knizner to end the inning.

The Mets threatened to extend their lead again in the bottom of the seventh, once again due to some shoddy Giants defense. Bo Bichette blooped a single to lead off the inning and then Mark Vientos hit a sharp grounder to third that hit off Osleivis Basabe’s bare hand and trickled away, allowing everyone to reach base safely. Marte managed to escape the inning unscathed (or at least not further scathed than he was already), but Basabe did not. He was pinch hit for in the top of the eighth by Grant McCray, who Warren struck out looking. Warren retired the next batter he faced as well, but the Giants mounted a two-out rally against him. Christian Koss and Jonah Cox hit back-to-back singles and then Rafael Devers turned on an inside pitch from Warren and hit it a long way, giving the Mets a taste of their own medicine and cutting the Mets’ lead to a much more manageable 9-6. Andy Green then yanked Warren from the game before this game that had been well in hand could get away, bringing in Robert Stock to make his first appearance of the season in relief. Stock gave up a double to Eldridge and Turner Hill hit one on the nose as well, but luckily his liner made its way into Carson Benge’s glove to end the inning with the Mets’ lead still in tact, earning Stock his first hold of the season.

Francisco Alvarez provided one last bit of cushion with his second homer of the night in the top of the ninth—a solo shot and his 15th of the season to push the Mets’ run total into double-digits. Kodai Senga worked around a two-out walk to pitch a scoreless ninth to polish off the dinger-fueled victory for the Mets at Citi Field.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Mark Vientos, +21% WPA
Big Mets loser: None!
Mets pitchers: +12% WPA
Mets hitters: +38% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos’ three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, +21.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Turner Hill’s single to load the bases for the Giants in the fifth, -5.8% WPA