DeGrom shines as Mets top Giants
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Jacob deGrom pitched eight strong innings and Wilmer Flores hit a home run and drove in two runs as the New York Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Saturday.
DeGrom (7-3) struck out seven and allowed one run while scattering four hits to lead the Mets to their second win in a row after they had lost four straight and seven of eight entering the series. It was also the third straight game deGrom pitched at least eight full innings.
The Giants (27-50), who last year had the best record in the majors at the All-Star break, are on pace to lose more than 100 games for the first time since arriving on the West Coast. They’ve lost 11 of their last 12 games, 13 of 15 and 20 of their last 25.
“It is hard to believe,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don’t know if anybody saw this coming. Hard to make sense of it, we have a lot of talent here. Just shows you, each year can be different, it can be embarrassing, 50 losses at this point, but we’ll get this thing better and figured out.”
Curtis Granderson tripled off Sam Dyson (0-1) to lead off the eighth inning and scored on Jay Bruce’s RBI single. Flores doubled in Asdrubal Cabrera later in the inning to extend the lead to 3-1. The Mets made it a four-run lead in the ninth when Michael Conforto drove in Jose Reyes and later scored on a wild pitch.
Brandon Belt homered in the seventh for the Giants.
Johnny Cueto started for the Giants and kept pace with deGrom, whom he beat in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series with Kansas City. Cueto allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. His biggest mistake was a 2-2 changeup he left over the middle of the plate that Flores clubbed into the left-field bleachers for his seventh homer.
The Giants trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh when Belt hit an opposite-field homer to left. It was Belt’s team-leading 14th home run.
TRANSACTIONS Giants INF Ryder Jones was called up from TripleA Sacramento. The 23-yearold was 0 for 3 in his big league debut. INF Aaron Hill was designated for assignment.