Aug 19, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) throws to the New York Mets in the third inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Photo Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — Pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza broke a tie with a run-scoring single in a two-run seventh inning Friday night, helping Johnny Cueto wins his 14th game in the San Francisco Giants’ 8-1 victory over the New York Mets.
Denard Span had four hits, including an RBI single that followed Adrianza’s, as the Giants (68-54) regained first place in the National League West with a second straight victory over the Mets to open their four-game series.
Cueto (14-3) won for the first time since July 6. He limited the Mets to one run on eight hits over seven innings, striking out two. He did not walk a batter.
The only run the Mets got off Cueto came on Curtis Granderson’s solo home run with two outs in the second inning.
Cueto, the NL’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, had been 0-2 in six starts since the break.
With the score tied 1-1 and two out in the last of the seventh, Eduardo Nunez doubled to the base of the wall in left-center field against Mets emergency starter Seth Lugo, who was filling in for Steven Matz.
Matz was scratched from the start because of a sore left shoulder.
After Joe Panik was intentionally walked, Adrianza greeted reliever Jerry Blevins with a single to right field. Nunez beat Jay Bruce’s throw to the plate with a head-first dive, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Span, who had driven in the Giants’ first run, then singled to left field, scoring Panik.
Giants reliever Javier Lopez got Bruce to ground into a double play with two on and one out in the eighth, retaining the two-run lead and setting the stage for five San Francisco game-clinching, tack-on runs in the bottom of the inning.
Conor Gillaspie capped the five-run uprising with a two-run, pinch-hit home run off the Mets’ fifth pitcher, Erik Goeddel. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-out, two-run throwing error had kept the inning alive one batter earlier.
The pinch-hit homer was the fifth of Gillaspie’s career and his second this season.
Lugo (0-2), making his first career start, allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt and Hunter Pence had two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for only the third time on their 10-game homestand.
Gillaspie and Span each had two RBIs, and Panik scored three times for San Francisco, which totaled 15 hits.
Jose Reyes had four hits, including a double, for the Mets, whose starting lineup included Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes, both of whom were activated off the disabled list before the game.
They combined to go 2-for-8, with each recording a single.
James Loney added two hits for the Mets (60-62), who fell 5 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (65-56) for the second wild-card spot in the NL.
The Mets lost for the fourth time in five games on their 10-game trip.
Granderson’s homer that opened the scoring in the second inning landed in the San Francisco Bay beyond the right-field wall. The “Splash Hit” was the 40th by a Giants opponent in the 16-year history of the ballpark, and was the second of Granderson’s career.
The homer was his 20th of the season.
The Giants drew even in the third on Span’s first hit, a one-out single that scored Panik.
The Mets blew a golden opportunity to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Lugo was held up at third base on a two-out single by Kelly Johnson. It came as a surprise to Reyes, who was halfway to third when he realized his teammate was still stationed there.
Lugo eventually was tagged out at home plate by first baseman Belt following a rundown.
The Mets might have scored earlier in the inning had Lugo not failed in a sacrifice attempt. Reyes followed with a single, which probably would have scored Rene Rivera from second base had Lugo’s bunt successfully gotten him there.
NOTES: The first pitch came 11 minutes later than scheduled after the Giants held a birthday party for legendary singer Tony Bennett on the field before the game. Bennett turned 90 on Aug. 3. As part of the ceremony that included former Giants great Willie Mays, a “victory flag” was unveiled in honor of Bennett that will be raised outside AT&T Park after every Giants win. … New York native and former Golden State Warriors standout Chris Mullin, wearing his Mets colors, watched the ceremony and the game, from the box seats behind the plate. … The Mets not only activated LF Yoenis Cespedes (straight right quad) and INF Asdrubal Cabrera (strained left knee) off the disabled list Friday, they also promoted LHP Josh Smoker from Triple-A Las Vegas before the game. Headed to Las Vegas in corresponding moves were LHP Josh Edgin, LF Ty Kelly and INF T.J. Rivera. … The game was played on the 59th anniversary of the New York Giants Board of Directors’ 9-1 vote in favor of moving the team to San Francisco.
