San Francisco Giants Fail to Complete Sweep of New York Mets

Published: 5^th May 11 1:52 pm

Danielle Parenteau
Danielle Parenteau

RANT It!

The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 today at Citi Field.

A few recent lineup changes remained intact as shortstop Mike Fontenot batted third and Nate Schierholtz got the nod in right field. However, the early start time also prompted some more tweaks as Pat Burrell, Freddy Sanchez and Buster Posey all got the day off — Cody Ross, Emmanuel Burriss and Eli Whiteside, respectively, started at their positions.

The Mets scored the first run of the game in the second.

Leading off, Jason Bay hit a ball out to Ross who made a great diving catch, only to have the ball pop out of his glove as it hit the ground, allowing Bay to reach second with a double.

Bay came in to score when Ronny Paulino hit into a double play completed on a great pick out of the dirt by Aubrey Huff.

That was followed by back-t0-back walks to Scott Hairston and pitcher Mike Pelfrey, who both scored on a triple by Jose Reyes.

The Giants got close with a run each in the fourth and fifth.

With two outs and nobody on in the fourth, Fontenot hit a bomb to the upper deck.

Schierholtz opened the fifth by hitting the ball to Reyes, who took his time before rushing a throw that went past the first baseman Ike Davis. Schierholtz ended up on second. He had beat out the attempt, but it was ruled a straight error.

After Ross and Miguel Tejada got out, Whiteside walked, bringing starter Jonathan Sanchez to the plate.

On the first pitch, he hit a ground ball up the middle to drive in Schierholtz.

This at-bat was a marked improvement over his third-inning plate appearance in which he bunted into a double play.

After bunting the ball foul two times, he made a third try and still failed to do so properly. Then, he just stood there, allowing the catcher Paulino to easily throw out the baserunner Whiteside.

Back in the dugout, manager Bruce Bochy was visibly ticked off, clearly chewing out the pitcher.

New York put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

With one out, David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran followed with a home run.

San Francisco really made Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez work in the ninth, but nothing came of it.

Leading off, Fontenot walked on an 11-pitch plate appearance, then advanced to second on defensive indifference.

After a six-pitch AB by Huff, Schierholtz walked after facing six of his own.

Ross, too, saw six pitches before singling to load the bases with one out.

Yet another six-pitch AB ended in a strikeout by Tejada.

Finally, Buster Posey, pinch-hitting for Whiteside, grounded into a force out on the fifth pitch he saw, to end the ballgame.

Sanchez’s well-known control issues were not helped today by the tight strike zone of home plate umpire Eric Cooper, though he did seem to stretch it a bit more for the Mets hurlers. Today, Sanchez walked six in five innings, but he also struck out six.

Plus, he allowed five hits and all five New York runs.

The Giants will celebrate Willie Mays’s 80th birthday and take on the Colorado Rockies at 7:15 p.m. PDT tomorrow.

Probable Pitchers: Matt Cain (2-2, 3.28) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2, 7.20)