SAN FRANCISCO — Two managers fighting to hold onto postseason hopes went back and forth in the seventh inning Friday. Bruce Bochy sent Conor Gillaspie to the on-deck circle and then pulled him back for Gregor Blanco. Terry Collins replaced his right-handed starter, Seth Lugo, with left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins. Bochy countered with switch-hitter Ehire Adrianza.
Bochy won and the Giants won.
Adrianza drove in the go-ahead run and the Giants went on to an 8-1 victory, taking back-to-back games for the second time in the second half. Because the Dodgers lost in Cincinnati earlier in the day, the Giants vaulted back into first place.
This was alternately a very well played game and very sloppy game. The Mets scored first on Curtis Granderson’s solo shot off Johnny Cueto in the second. Joe Panik hit a leadoff single off Lugo an inning later and made it home on a sacrifice by Cueto and single by Denard Span.
Then, the teams got weird. The Mets cost themselves a bases-loaded opportunity when Jose Reyes overran second, forcing Lugo into an inning-ending rundown between third and home. The bottom of that inning started with a Hunter Pence pop-up that dropped in shallow center for a double. Pence was promptly doubled off on a liner to center that held up and was caught. The game settled down from there, with Cueto and Lugo taking a tie into the seventh. Adrianza’s single was followed by an RBI single from Denard Span.
The Mets did Mets things in the eighth, allowing five insurance runs to come across. Gillaspie's pinch-hit homer was the big blow.
Starting pitching report: Cueto bounced back from a rough stretch, allowing one run in seven innings. He had gone seven innings in just one of his previous six starts.
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Bullpen report: Javier Lopez got Jay Bruce to hit into a double play to end the eighth.
At the plate: Adrianza is 3-for-10 with three RBI as a pinch-hitter this year.
In the field: Pence made a diving catch in Triples Alley to rob Asdrubal Cabrera’s hair of extra bases. Eduardo Nuñez followed with a terrific stop of a hot shot to third.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,434 human beings who want to know why Cabrera bleached his hair.
Up next: Matt Moore will look to pick up his first win as a Giant. Bartolo Colon will look to give us an outstanding GIF or two.
