3 days, 3 rallies: Giants make history with crazy comeback vs. Mets

NEW YORK -- Call the Giants the comeback kids. For the third game in a row, San Francisco rallied from a deficit of four or more runs to win.

After getting two victories against the Pirates, the Giants turned the tables on the Mets in an 8-7 victory at Citi Field on Friday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the club has won three consecutive games after trailing by four or more runs in each for the first time in its history, and it is just the fourth team to do so since 1900 -- the ‘99 Marlins, ‘61 Red Sox and ‘32 Cardinals are the others. Ironically, the ‘99 Marlins did it against the Giants from Aug. 9-11 of that year.

Considering it’s the regular season, Friday’s game will have Giants fans talking at least until Saturday’s game. San Francisco was down 6-2 before facing New York reliever Reed Garrett in the top of the eighth inning. Thairo Estrada brought home Mike Yastrzemski -- who singled to lead off the frame -- with a double to put runners on second and third. After Matt Chapman walked to load the bases, Patrick Bailey hit a grand slam to give the Giants a 7-6 lead. All the runs came with two outs.

“Obviously, I was looking for something kind of middle-down that I can do damage with,” Bailey said. “I was able to put a good swing on it."

Said manager Bob Melvin: “It’s the same thing the last three days. We are just fighting to the finish. When we get guys on base, there is just a really good feeling in the dugout that someone is going to come up with a big hit. We had a [few] there that inning, and obviously, Bailey was huge.”

San Francisco added to the lead an inning later when Yastrzemski hit a solo homer off Jorge López.

The run proved vital because the bottom of the ninth was a doozy. After DJ Stewart doubled, then scored on a one-out single by Francisco Lindor, the Mets made it tough on closer Camilo Doval. Pete Alonso was the next hitter, and he hit what looked like a routine double-play ball to shortstop Marco Luciano, who let the ball go by him for an error to put runners on first and third.

“He had his glove go in the wrong direction. We’ll figure that one out a little bit later,” Melvin said about Luciano’s miscue.

After Brandon Nimmo was intentionally walked to load the bases, J.D. Martinez struck out on three pitches. Then, Mark Vientos worked the count full before hitting a slow roller to Chapman at third.

Melvin was hoping the ball would go foul, but it stayed fair. It seemed like Vientos was going to beat the throw and Lindor was going to score the tying run. But Chapman made a stunning barehand grab and threw to first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. to seal the win.

Melvin has seen Chapman make great plays for more than eight years. Remember, they worked together going back to their days with the A’s from 2017-21. But the skipper called this play one of the third baseman’s best.

“Maybe the best, because that’s a ball that you hope goes foul,” Melvin said. “That’s not a ball you make a play on. At some point in time, he has to figure out if he has a chance, and I didn’t think he did and I’ve seen him make about every play he has ever made.”

Chapman said it was the most excited he has felt after making a great play.

“To have a walk-off play on defense like that with the bases loaded, game on the line, I think it’s probably the best one for sure,” he said. “I kind of surprised myself a little bit there. It was just a lot of fun. I’m glad to get that win.”

What makes Chapman so good with the glove? He is a tenacious defender with a fantastic arm. He can play deeper than any other third baseman because of his arm and that allows him to get to a lot of balls, according to Melvin.

“But where he started [on that play], you could see how far [Vientos] was getting down the line,” Melvin said. “…. I didn’t think he had a chance on that play. He closes as quickly as anybody.”

The Giants have won seven of their last eight games and are now at the .500 mark with a 26-26 record. This is the first time the club has climbed back to .500 since it was 2-2 back on March 31. Getting even is a big deal for Melvin. There is a lot of season left to make an impact in the National League West.

“We came on this road trip and we were hoping to do something like that -- come home at .500 or a little bit better,” the skipper said. “We really had a tough game to start in Pittsburgh that put us back at three [games] under .500, which doesn’t feel terribly good. But to win three in a row like that in the fashion that we did is really good.”