Five balls left Oracle Park on Thursday night, but not enough of them came off of Giants bats.
Two San Francisco home runs weren’t enough to overcome an offensive onslaught from the Mets. Starter Sean Manaea allowed five earned runs in 3.2 innings, and rookie Tristan Beck surrendered four more in relief.
The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead, absorbed a body blow from the Giants and then knocked them out. New York hit three homers to the Giants’ two and out-hit them 13 to seven. NYM handed the Giants (6-12) a 9-4 loss; SF has now lost six of its last seven contests.
Thursday’s game was the first of an eight-game home stand for the Giants — their longest of the season. It should be a much-needed respite after San Francisco went 1-4 on its road trip to Detroit and Miami.
Over those five games, the Giants struck out 57 times for an average of 11.4 per game. The team has struck out 189 times in 18 games entering Thursday, by far the highest rate in MLB.
“I think contact is an important part of our process on the offensive side of the ball,” manager Gabe Kapler said pregame. “So, making a little more contact — it doesn’t have to be dramatic. Just putting the ball in play a little bit more often when a productive out is in order will help us get better as a club. Obviously, not off to our best start, and that’s one of the reasons why.”
The Giants executed that game plan of putting more balls in play, as they struck out a season-low five times. But it was San Francisco’s pitching that really let the club down Thursday. Manaea’s poor start was the primary reason the Giants fell behind.
Early on, Manaea took two line drives to the body — one comebacker hit his knee and another his midsection — and also spun a double play on a grounder up the middle. Although Manaea remained in the game and fielded his position well, the Mets were timing him up, smacking pitches back up the middle.
Manaea’s command wasn’t sharp either. He’d walked two Mets before hitting two more when he unraveled in the fourth inning.
That frame, the Mets tagged him for a pair of two-run home runs. First, Pete Alonso pulled a 3-2 inside fastball over the left field fence. Then Eduardo Escobar, owner of a .118 batting average and one home run on the season, took him deep just inside the foul pole.
Manaea issued a third walk and then an RBI double to Brandon Nimmo. He became the first Giants starter to allow five runs in a game since Sept. 25 of last year, breaking a 27-game streak that was tied for the longest active run in MLB.
He threw just 51 of his 88 pitches for strikes.
“Just didn’t have any real feel for anything,” Manaea said postgame.
Beck, the rookie out of Stanford, made his MLB debut in relief of Manaea. And behind him, the Giants made their move.
Blake Sabol and LaMonte Wade Jr. each took Kodai Senga deep. Mike Yastrzemski knocked in a run with a two-out single, and Michael Conforto — serving as designated hitter because of his tight calf — booked it home on a wild pitch.
Just one inning after Manaea’s implosion, the Giants cut a five-run deficit to one. But Beck, inserted for bulk duties because of Manaea’s short start and a taxed bullpen, couldn’t keep New York quiet.
Jeff McNeil drove an inside slider off one of the water cannons in right field. Two doubles and a single from Alonso scored two more; Brett Wisely’s offline throw from center didn’t help Beck, either.
SF’s brief comeback bid went nowhere. San Francisco kept sending Beck out to the mound, and he kept getting hit.
Beck took the Giants through the end of the game, but he allowed four runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings. With their offense as inconsistent as it was, the Giants needed much more from the bump.