Giants Snap Mets’ Eight-Game Winning Streak Behind Bumgarner, Pence

The San Francisco Giants snapped the New York Mets’ eight-game winning streak in front of 39,077 fans with a 6-1 victory on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Citi Field as Madison Bumgarner (3-2, 3.03 ERA) outdueled Noah Syndergaard (2-1, 2.51 ERA) in the series finale.

The left-hander threw six scoreless innings for the Giants, allowing six hits, three walks, and striking out seven batters. Bumgarner entered Sunday’s series finale with 12 consecutive scoreless innings tossed at Citi Field, and after Sunday’s effort, he owns the best ERA of any pitcher at the venue with a minimum of 25 innings pitched.

As for Syndergaard, his difficulties of keeping runners on the bases in check hurt him. The Giants stole three bases off “Thor” as Brandon Crawford and Matt Duffy (two) nabbed the extra bases. Ironically, it wasn’t a stolen base but rather starting a runner that eventually hurt Syndergaard.

With Duffy at third base and Buster Posey at first base in the fourth inning, the Giants sent Posey as Brandon Belt grounded out to second base. The Giants avoided a double play and allowed Duffy to score from third base. The next batter, right fielder Hunter Pence, lined a two-run home run to right field — his fifth of the season — giving the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Two innings later, Syndergaard was in trouble again. Duffy singled with one out in the inning and promptly stole his second base of the game. After striking out Posey, Syndergaard walked Belt, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Manager Terry Collins saw enough and decided to make a pitching change.

Hard-throwing right-hander, Hansel Robles came on and allowed an RBI single to Pence, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead.

With the inherited runner scoring, Syndergaard’s final line was four earned runs, five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts in five-and-two-thirds innings.

The Giants proceeded to add some insurance. In the seventh inning, Angel Pagan hit an RBI single off lefty Antonio Bastardo but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. Finally, Posey took swingman Logan Verrett deep for his fourth home run of the year in the eighth inning, giving the team a 6-1 lead. The solo blast ended Verrett’s 16-and-one-third inning scoreless streak.

The Mets outhit the Giants 10-8 but failed to capitalize on most of their scoring opportunities. Asdrubal Cabrera struck out looking in the sixth inning when the Mets had the bases loaded with two outs, ending Bumgarner’s day on a high note.

Juan Lagares — who was making his first start in right field since 2013— hit a leadoff double in the seventh inning, giving the Mets some life. Team captain and third baseman followed Lagares’ double with an RBI single, bringing the score to 5-1.

However, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy used a successful mix-and-match approach that inning. He brought in lefty Javier Lopez to face Michael Conforto (fly out) and then righty Cory Gearrin got Yoenis Cespedes to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the eighth inning, the Mets stranded two more runners against lefty Josh Osich before going down quietly in the ninth inning.

Lagares, Wright, and Neil Walker all contributed two hits apiece.

The Giants head off to Cincinnati to start a three-game series with the Reds. Johnny Cueto (4-1, 2.65 ERA) will face Brandon Finnegan (1-1, 3.86 ERA) in the series opener.

The Mets continue their homestand on Monday as they host the Atlanta Braves as part of their 17 games in 17 days schedule. Bartolo Colon (1-1, 3.42 ERA) will look to win his 220th career game, which would put him second on the all-time wins list among Dominican-born pitchers. The Braves were originally set to go with Mike Foltynewicz but Saturday’s rainout gives the team the choice to start Matt Wisler (0-2, 4.26 ERA) and delay Foltynewicz’s promotion for at least a week, per MLB.

[Featured Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images]