'Here we go again': Giants come from behind to win in 4th straight game
NEW YORK -- Another day, another comeback for the Giants.
Brett Wisely delivered a go-ahead single that sparked a five-run surge in the top of the 10th inning as the Giants rallied to defeat the Mets, 7-2, on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, securing their fourth consecutive come-from-behind victory on the road.
San Francisco overcame deficits of four or more runs in each of its previous three games, but the team didn¡¯t need to climb out of quite as deep a hole this time around.
Down 2-1 in the top of the ninth, San Francisco managed to tie the game after Wilmer Flores reached on a leadoff single and was replaced by pinch-runner Ryan McKenna, who stole second before coming home on LaMonte Wade Jr.¡¯s pinch-hit single to right field.
¡°We seem to have a little flair for the dramatic here recently,¡± manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°We¡¯ve come back from bigger numbers than one, so all it takes is one big hit to get a run. The talk in the dugout late in games is, ¡®Here we go again.¡¯¡±
Things got hairy in the bottom of the ninth after Brett Baty drew a one-out walk and Tom¨¢s Nido reached on a fielder¡¯s choice resulting from a missed catch error by shortstop Marco Luciano, but Luke Jackson managed to coax a groundout from Francisco Lindor and induce a flyout from Pete Alonso to leave the two runners stranded and force extra innings.
Wisely capped his first career three-hit game in the 10th, bouncing a single up the middle that scored automatic runner Curt Casali from second and gave San Francisco its first lead of the afternoon. The Giants added on behind Patrick Bailey¡¯s bases-loaded walk and Mike Yastrzemski¡¯s bases-clearing triple to left field.
At 27-26, the Giants are back over .500 for the first time since they were 2-1 entering play on March 31. They¡¯ve won eight of their last nine games, mounting four straight comeback victories on the road for the ninth time in franchise history and the first since April 13-16, 1997, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
¡°It¡¯s fun,¡± said Wisely, who boosted his batting average to .385 through seven games this year. ¡°This team is so resilient. No matter if we¡¯re down five, down two or down one, we¡¯re going to battle every at-bat.¡±
San Francisco has scored 23 runs in the eighth inning or later over its past four games, though the club was stymied early on by New York right-hander Luis Severino, who allowed only one run on two hits and three walks over seven innings.
Severino needed only 36 pitches to retire the first 12 batters he faced before issuing a leadoff walk to Matt Chapman in the fifth that gave the Giants their first baserunner of the game. Wisely later broke up Severino¡¯s no-hit bid with a one-out single in the sixth and came around to score on Bailey¡¯s RBI single to tie the game, 1-1.
¡°His stuff was just so good,¡± Wisely said of Severino. ¡°It was electric today. That at-bat, I tried to be really, really simple. I swung at a pitch out of the zone that I probably shouldn¡¯t have swung at. But luckily, I made contact with it and got it over the third baseman¡¯s head and broke up the no-hitter. I feel like that kind of got the team going and kind of got some energy in the dugout.¡±
Wisely, 25, has started only two games at shortstop for the Giants so far this year, but he could see some more time at the position until veteran Nick Ahmed (left wrist sprain) returns from the injured list. The club has been giving the 22-year-old Luciano a chance to play regularly at the position, but the No. 1 prospect has committed five errors in his first nine games this season, four of which have come in the ninth inning.
Wisely got the starting nod at shortstop over Luciano on Saturday, but he shifted over to replace Flores at first base in the bottom of the ninth, as the Giants wanted to avoid using Wade on defense since he was nursing a minor left hamstring issue. Luciano came in as a defensive replacement, but he missed a feed from Thairo Estrada on Nido¡¯s grounder to second, which nearly cost the Giants a chance to complete their latest comeback.
¡°I don¡¯t know how to explain it, except to say that it makes me feel really bad,¡± Luciano said in Spanish before the game. ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it. I want to support the team and record the outs, keep runs off the board, all the basic stuff. When I commit those errors, it really doesn¡¯t sit well with me.¡±