LDN - Sports

Giants pull away from Mets

[August 20, 2016] SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants unveiled a new "victory flag" during a birthday party for 90-year-old legendary singer Tony Bennett before Friday's game against the New York Mets.

Three hours later, they got a chance to raise it for the first time.

Pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza broke a tie with a run-scoring single in a two-run seventh inning, helping Johnny Cueto wins his 14th game in the Giants' 8-1 victory over the Mets.

Denard Span had four hits, including an RBI single that followed Adrianza's, as the Giants (68-54) regained first place in the National League West with a second straight victory over the Mets to open their four-game series.

"It's cool, something that I think we'll enjoy," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the flag, which was hoisted outside the ballpark. "He (Bennett) is one of my favorites. It was pretty cool to see him out there.

"We celebrated his birthday, and we won a ballgame. That's another good sign."

Cueto (14-3) won for the first time since July 6. He limited the Mets to one run on eight hits over seven innings, striking out two. He did not walk a batter.

The only run the Mets got off Cueto came on Curtis Granderson's solo home run with two outs in the second inning.

Cueto, the NL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, had been 0-2 in six starts since the break.

"I felt very confident," he assured. "This is where we're going to see what kind of team we have."

With the score tied 1-1 and two out in the last of the seventh, Eduardo Nunez doubled to the base of the wall in left-center field against Mets emergency starter Seth Lugo, who was filling in for Steven Matz.

Matz was scratched from the start because of a sore left shoulder.

After Joe Panik was intentionally walked, Adrianza greeted reliever Jerry Blevins with a single to right field. Nunez beat Jay Bruce's throw to the plate with a head-first dive, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.

"I saw the lefty getting ready, so I got prepared for it," the switch-hitter who's now 7-for-15 (.467) against left-handers said. "I'm just happy to do my job."

Span, who had driven in the Giants' first run, then singled to left field, scoring Panik.

Giants reliever Javier Lopez got Bruce to ground into a double play with two on and one out in the eighth, retaining the two-run lead and setting the stage for five San Francisco game-clinching, tack-on runs in the bottom of the inning.

"He's really pressing," Collins said of Bruce, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Cincinnati Reds.

The manager was quick to point out that Bruce's 12-for-68 (.168) as a Met is hardly the only problem on a team that's dropped eight of its last 11 games.

"When you go through bad stretches, it is everything. It's everything," Collins insisted. "You look at different things ... a couple of base-running blunders, a couple of errors there, then all of a sudden the bullpen."

Conor Gillaspie capped the Giants' five-run uprising in the eighth with a two-run, pinch-hit home run off the Mets' fifth pitcher, Erik Goeddel. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera's two-out, two-run throwing error had kept the inning alive one batter earlier.

The pinch-hit homer was the fifth of Gillaspie's career and his second this season.

Lugo (0-2), making his first career start, allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

"Tremendous," Collins assessed of Lugo. "What a job. Great job."

Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt and Hunter Pence had two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for only the third time in eight games on their 10-game homestand.

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Giants second baseman Joe Panik (12) scores on an RBI single by center fielder Denard Span (2) ( not pictured) in the third inning of their MLB baseball game with the New York Mets at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Gillaspie and Span each had two RBIs, and Panik scored three times for San Francisco, which totaled 15 hits.

The Giants pounded out 17 hits in a 10-7 win over the Mets in the series opener Thursday.

"This is a good offensive club," Bochy insisted. "I know we went through a tough stretch there. But they're good hitters. They're comfortable up there."

Jose Reyes had four hits, including a double, for the Mets, whose starting lineup included Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes, both of whom were activated off the disabled list before the game.

They combined to go 2-for-8, with each recording a single.

James Loney added two hits for the Mets (60-62), who fell 5 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (65-56) for the second wild-card spot in the NL.

The Mets lost for the fourth time in five games on their 10-game trip.

Granderson's homer that opened the scoring in the second inning landed in the San Francisco Bay beyond the right-field wall. The "Splash Hit" was the 40th by a Giants opponent in the 16-year history of the ballpark, and was the second of Granderson's career.

The homer was his 20th of the season.

The Giants drew even in the third on Span's first hit, a one-out single that scored Panik.

The Mets blew a golden opportunity to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Lugo was held up at third base on a two-out single by Kelly Johnson. It came as a surprise to Reyes, who was halfway to third when he realized his teammate was still stationed there.

Lugo eventually was tagged out at home plate by first baseman Belt following a rundown.

The Mets might have scored earlier in the inning had Lugo not failed in a sacrifice attempt. Reyes followed with a single, which probably would have scored Rene Rivera from second base had Lugo's bunt successfully gotten him there.

NOTES: The first pitch came 11 minutes later than scheduled as a result of the birthday party for Tony Bennett on the field before the game. Willie Mays was a part of the ceremony. ... New York native and former Golden State Warriors standout Chris Mullin, wearing his Mets colors, watched the festivities, and the game, from the box seats behind the plate. ... The Mets not only activated LF Yoenis Cespedes (straight right quad) and INF Asdrubal Cabrera (strained left knee) off the disabled list Friday, they also promoted LHP Josh Smoker from Triple-A Las Vegas before the game. Headed to Las Vegas in corresponding moves were LHP Josh Edgin, LF Ty Kelly and INF T.J. Rivera. ... The game was played on the 59th anniversary of the New York Giants Board of Directors' 9-1 vote in favor of moving the team to San Francisco.

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