Mets manager Buck Showalter has gotten criticized for his bullpen usage of late, particularly when to insert closer David Robertson.
Robertson, the most effective arm in New York’s bullpen, sat idly as the Mets squandered a big lead to Philadelphia in the eighth inning days ago. New-age thinking suggests teams should use their best relievers not just in save situations, but in the highest leverage moments of a game.
On Friday, Showalter inserted Robertson in the eighth to face the heart of San Francisco’s lineup, choosing what many consider the “correct” option. That didn’t work, either.
Against Robertson, trailing by two runs, Joc Pederson reached on an error by perennial All-Star Pete Alonso. Then J.D. Davis drew a tough walk to bring up Patrick Bailey, San Francisco’s rookie phenom.
Bailey, who was 0-for-3 on the night, extended his hit streak to 11 in the most dramatic way possible. The catcher connected on a middle-middle curveball, flushing it 432 feet to dead center and into the Flushing night. His fifth homer had an exit velocity of 107.3 mph, surging the Giants to a 5-4 lead — their first of the game.
The rookie snatched the Mets’ soul in the eighth, then erased what would’ve been the game-tying run in the ninth by throwing Starling Marte out for his 11th caught stealing of the season.
“That was like superstar-caliber stuff,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters postgame.
The come-from-behind win is the Giants’ seventh victory of the month after they trailed in the seventh inning or later. The comeback kids, led by their refined blend of rookies and veterans, did it again in a 5-4 win.
Nothing is going the Mets’ way. New York is 7-19 in the month, heading in the polar opposite of the red-hot Giants (46-36). The highest payroll in MLB is teetering, while the Giants are in the midst of a June bloom.
This road trip has been one of homecomings and reunions for the Giants.
In Toronto, old friends Brandon Belt and Kevin Gausman caught up with their former teammates. Ross Stripling, a former Blue Jay, came off the injured list to do the same.
On Friday, J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto returned to Citi Field for the first time since they left the Mets. The Citi Field scoreboard displayed tribute videos for both players, who each tipped their caps to the crowd afterwards.
Then there was Wilmer Flores, who remains beloved in Queens. Flores, who famously cried on the field when he learned he was being traded from the Mets, only for the deal to fall through, is to Mets fans what Matt Duffy is to Giants fans.
Flores smoked a solo home run to tie the game after the teams went back-and-forth early on. Flores’ fifth-inning homer made it 2-2 and went out on a line at 104 mph.
As Flores rounded the bases, one Mets fan held up a sign with Fred Flinstone that read: “WILMER WE MISS YOU.”
Another player playing with a history of another sort, though, matched Flores’ homer with an even more impressive bomb. Tommy Pham, of Joc Pederson slap fame, torched a 411-foot homer that would’ve left all 30 parks. Pederson, playing right field for SF, watched as the homer soared just inside of the left field foul pole.
Pham’s homer came off Taylor Rogers in the sixth inning; Rogers hadn’t allowed a run since May 19, a span of 13 scoreless appearances.
Rogers was in after Cobb, in his first start back from a mild oblique injury, lasted five innings. Both he and Mets starter Carlos Carrasco gave up two earned runs in five frames.
Although the Giants committed two errors behind Cobb, they also played some flashy defense behind him. Blake Sabol and Luis Matos each made diving catches, and Matos added another lunging grab at the warning track.
A controversial spectator interference — and corresponding challenge — didn’t go the Giants’ way, though, as the umpiring crew ruled that Brandon Nimmo would’ve scored independent of a Giants fan reaching over the rail in the left-field corner.
Left fielder Blake Sabol eventually consoled the embarrassed fan and gave him a fist pump, but Cobb was visibly ticked off.
That was the low point of the night for the Giants, at least emotionally. Bailey supplied the medicine.
Bailey’s eighth-inning homer was the third-hardest hit ball of his young career. The catcher’s OPS hovers around .900 and he ranks in the top-five among MLB rookies in WAR, despite appearing in only 33 games. He’s been a force on both sides of the ball, and has already shown a knack for delivering in big moments.
Bailey admired his towering shot as it soared out of Citi Field. The shot came off a reliever with a 1.54 ERA and would’ve cleared the fence in all 30 ballparks. He stuck his tongue out as his triumphant trot neared home plate — a living image of everything going right for one team, and nothing for the other.