SAN FRANCISCO — This was not the way the Giants drew it up. It wasn’t a clean game or a particularly inspiring one. It was far too tense given how many hits the lineup had.
But hey, they’ll take it.
When Madison Bumgarner gives up a grand slam and you’re facing Jacob deGrom, you’ll take a win any way you can get it. The Giants pounded out 17 hits and edged the Mets 10-7. Because the Dodgers lost earlier in the day, they are again within a half-game of first place.
Both pitchers had previously dominated their opposition — so naturally this one was a shootout.
Bumgarner blinked first after three sharp innings. He took a 21-inning scoreless streak against the Mets into the fourth, but with one out he completely lost his command. Two walks loaded the bases and Justin Ruggiano smashed a flat cutter over the center field wall. The grand slam stunned AT&T Park, but the tables would turn minutes later.
The Giants wasted four early hits against deGrom, who came in 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in three starts against them. They opened the fourth with three straight singles and a triple by Eduardo Nuñez, cutting the deficit to one. That’s when Bumgarner took over.
The big left-hander had just missed taking deGrom deep in his first at-bat, and when he got a 95 mph fastball that slid back over the heart of the plate, Bumgarner smashed it into the seats in left. The homer was his third of the year and 14th of his career, and it gave the Giants the lead.
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Bumgarner would last just one more inning, but the Giants kept tacking on. By the time deGrom was done, he had allowed 13 hits and eight earned runs, both career highs.
The inconsistent bullpen started giving the lead back. The Mets scored three times in the sixth, but Derek Law worked out of a jam in the seventh and Sergio Romo continued his red-hot streak with two strikeouts in the eighth. Buster Posey provided some breathing room with a two-run double in the eighth.
Starting pitching report: Bumgarner allowed four earned runs in a home start for the first time all year and pitched just five innings. His ERA jumped from 2.11 to 2.25, which is still good.
Bullpen report: Cory Gearrin’s first night back didn’t go well. Gearrin gave up two singles and a long fly ball to center before being replaced. Both runners scored.
At the plate: Bumgarner has homered off deGrom, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw (twice) in the last three seasons. Per ESPN Stats and Info, the only other big leaguers to get to all three All-Stars are Carlos Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton.
In the field: Angel Pagan had a weird sixth inning. He took a bad route to Ty Kelly’s liner and turned it into a triple, but he also kept the tying run off the board by chasing down T.J. Rivera’s fly to the track.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,517 human beings who hopefully noticed that home plate ump Brian Gorman tried to ring up Kelly Johnson on strike two.
Up next: Another pretty good matchup: Johnny Cueto vs. Steven Matz. Somehow the teams will combine for 28 runs.
