With hopes of completing a pivotal series win at home, the New York Mets fell flat late as the San Francisco Giants pulled away in the ninth inning to secure a 9-2 win and take the three-game set at Citi Field.
After dropping 14 of their last 18 games entering Friday night, the Giants desperately needed a momentum-shifting victory and they got one. Rookie starter Carson Whisenhunt held his own against a Mets team that came in with the best home record in baseball (38-17), while the Giants’ offense broke out late to snatch the series and hand New York a rare home loss.
Francisco Lindor gave the Mets early life with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, his 21st of the season. The shot followed a leadoff strikeout from Brandon Nimmo, and it briefly energized a Citi Field crowd hoping to see more fireworks from Pete Alonso, who remains three home runs away from surpassing Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record of 253. Alonso came close again, launching a deep flyout to center that brought fans to their feet.
But in the third, Rafael Devers flipped the momentum with a towering three-run homer off Frankie Montas into the upper deck in right. That blast was part of a brutal inning for Montas, who struggled through just 3.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs, including a two-run fielder’s choice from Patrick Bailey in the fourth that extended the Giants’ lead to 5-1.
Austin Warren relieved Montas and delivered two scoreless innings, striking out three and giving the Mets a chance to chip away. In the bottom of the fifth, Jeff McNeil led off with a single and came around to score on a double to right from Francisco Alvarez, trimming the deficit to 5-2. But that would be the last run the Mets scratched across.
San Francisco leaned on former Met José Butto out of the bullpen, and he was lights out against his old teammates. Butto entered in the sixth and retired the side in order in both the seventh and eighth innings, preventing the Mets from mounting any serious rally.
The real dagger came in the top of the ninth.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Dominic Smith lined a single into right field to bring home another run, stretching the lead to 6-2. Two batters later, Casey Schmitt, already known for becoming the only Giant to hit grand slams in back-to-back games earlier this week, crushed a two-run homer to left field that silenced the crowd and erased any remaining hope of a Mets comeback.
Schmitt’s blast capped off a four-run ninth and effectively ended the game, with the Mets going quietly in the bottom half.
The loss dropped New York to 38-18 at home and allowed the Phillies to close the gap in the NL East standings. Meanwhile, the Giants picked up a much-needed series win in Queens; their first back-to-back series victories at Citi Field since 2015 and gave themselves a spark as they try to chase down the Padres and Dodgers in the NL West.