Right-handers Jacob deGrom and Tyler Beede have tough acts to follow when they take the ball Friday on the second night of a four-game series between the visiting New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.
Former All-Stars Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner both pitched brilliantly in the series opener Thursday, a game the Giants won 3-2 by outscoring the Mets 2-1 in the 16th inning.
Syndergaard pitched seven innings and Bumgarner nine, each allowing just one run.
It’ll be up to deGrom and Beede to rest weary bullpens after the Mets used seven relievers and Giants six in each team’s second-longest game of the season.
The Mets have seen similar brilliance from deGrom (5-7, 3.21 ERA) in his past 10 starts, during which he’s never allowed more than three runs in any game. He’s 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA over that stretch.
The 31-year-old hasn’t pitched in San Francisco since 2017. He’s 4-2 in his career against the Giants with a 2.91 ERA in seven starts, and 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts in San Francisco.
Beede (3-3, 5.44 ERA) pitched a 7-0 loss at New York in June, roughed up for six runs (five earned) and five hits in five innings. Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario homered off him in the game.
It was the 26-year-old’s only career start against the Mets (0-1, 9.00 ERA).
Interestingly, Beede will be making his second appearance of the series, having been called upon to pinch hit in the 14th inning Thursday after the Giants ran out of position players. He struck out.
While there were no surprises in the pitching assignments for the first two games of the series, both managers took time before Thursday’s opener to reshape their staffs for a series that matches two teams making a belated run at wild card spots in the National League.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway announced that right-hander Walker Lockett would be promoted from Triple-A to start Saturday in place of injured Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler, who complained of shoulder fatigue after his last start on July 7, threw off flat ground before Thursday’s game as a first step toward what the Mets hope will be a speedy recovery.
“Obviously playing catch and continuing to play catch dictates a lot of what goes on next,” Callaway said. “So we’ll just feel him out day to day and see where we’re at.”
Meanwhile, the Giants gave Bruce Bochy another left-hander at his disposal in the bullpen when they called up Williams Jerez from Triple-A Sacramento. And the veteran skipper wasted no time getting the 27-year-old on the hill, summoning him to begin the 15th inning in the series opener.
“So we can lighten the load on the rest of the guys,” Bochy explained before the game about the addition of Jerez, noting the Giants began the week with four games in three days at Colorado. “We have been using (the bullpen) a lot, and that’s a good thing. We’ve been winning.”
Jerez wound up picking up his first big-league win despite allowing a tiebreaking home run to Mets slugger Pete Alonso in the top of the 16th.
