Well, the Mets ripped defeat from the jaws of victory and I’m partially to blame, as I started to write this piece during the top of the 16th inning when the Mets took the lead. But both teams went through their entire bullpens and Chris Mazza simply had nothing left when he took the mound for his second inning of work and ended up giving up two runs without recording an out, as the Giants ended a long night with a 3-2 win.

Might as well let you see what this was going to say…

Pete Alonso waited until his seventh plate appearance of the game to get his first hit. But he made it worth the wait as he delivered a solo HR to lead off the 16th inning to lift the Mets to a 2-1 win over the Giants, Thursday night in San Francisco.

Both teams came into the game off double-digit scoring affairs, with the Giants scoring 11 and the Mets tallying 14. But with a matchup featuring Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard, it was a completely different story.

Bumgarner came in having never lost to the Mets, going 6-0 in the regular season and tacking on another win in the 2016 Wild Card game. And he was terrific again tonight, with a final line of 9 IP, 5 H, 1 ER and 6 Ks.

But Syndergaard gave seven strong innings of his own. Matched up with Tomas Nido, we saw more good sliders from Syndergaard, a pitch he’s struggled with most of the year.

And perhaps most surprising of all was that when the Mets went to the pen, the pen came thru, inning after inning.

*****

That’s when I stopped writing and saw the rest of the game.

The Mets’ bullpen did deliver eight innings of scoreless action, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

One last thing left to add here at 2:39 a.m. and that’s that this game featured the best Steve Gelbs segment ever. All game long Gary and Keith were commenting about the gulls that congregate around the ballpark. There were birds on the field when the game started and in the later innings, when the birds felt it was time for the people to leave and for them to pick up the leftovers, Gelbs went out to the outfield with some bread in an attempt to feed them.

But, like how most people feel about Gelbs’ interruptions during the game, the gulls wanted nothing to do with him and they avoided him, even with him bearing gifts. And the best gift of all – there was no audio!

You take your wins where you can get them.

8 comments on “Gut Reaction: Giants 3, Mets 2 (16 INN) 7/18/19

  • Rob

    Nido reminds me on Charlie O’Brien. From Gooden ,Maddox, chuck finley,Clemons all wanted him as their personal Catcher. I recall an article years ago Randy Johnson wanted him in Seattle.

  • TexasGusCC

    If only Rhame wasn’t suspended… LoL

    The bullpen was excellent and even Dickerson’s leadoff double shows us how lucky these guys are: a bad high curve curving in on him that was so in tight, that it should have hit him, and he gets the bat around on it and dunks it inside the line. Give me a break.

    Second and third and no one out in the tenth, and they didn’t score… Conforto and McNeil strike out and not get the runner in. That’s on them.

    • Brian Joura

      Yeah, Gus, thanks for mentioning Rhame. I didn’t have the strength after the game. But here’s what I wrote in the chatter at 2:31 — C’mon Gary, Rhame sucks, stop pretending that his absence means a damn thing except who would get the loss.

  • Charles Hangley

    In games of attrition like this, the home team always has the edge, what with having last licks & all.

    Also, when this became a bullpen battle, the clear advantage went to the Giants, whose ‘pen is far superior to the Mets’. Good job out of the New Yorkers’ beleaguered relief corps for hanging tough through 15 innings.

    Can’t get too terribly upset about this one.

    • TexasGusCC

      Charlie, that’s not fair this time. They did a great job. The two hits that tied the game were a lucky bloop and a double down the line the opposite way. That’s pretty lucky for the Giants, but they created their own luck. If we rip the bullpen when they suck, we need to acknowledge when they do well.

      • Charles Hangley

        I did:

        “Good job out of the New Yorkers’ beleaguered relief corps for hanging tough through 15 innings.”

  • Eric

    Haven’t seen anyone mention this yes, but the biggest bone headed play of the game was Rosario getting picked off in the 16th last night. Against a tired, wild, rookie pitcher, with the possibility to add on critical runs and give Mazza a little more breathing room. Unfathomable how he lets that happen in that spot.

    • Metsense

      +1 the Mets can’t smell the Kill

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