New York @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 16, 2021 ) NY Mets 5, San Francisco 7
Two right-handers who will be pitching in their element will go head-to-head Tuesday night when the host San Francisco Giants bid for their second straight win over the New York Mets in their high-stakes, three-game series.
Kris Bryant hit two home runs Monday to lift the Giants to a 7-5 victory in the series opener. National League West-leading San Francisco has won 13 of its past 16 games, while New York has lost four in a row.
Kevin Gausman recorded his career-best 12th win on Monday, but fellow right-hander Logan Webb (6-3, 2.96 ERA) has been the ace of the San Francisco staff during a personal 10-game unbeaten streak.
Webb, 24, scattered three hits and struck out eight in six innings of a 7-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday. He improved his home record to 4-0 while lowering his ERA at Oracle Park this season to 1.58.
Webb has yet to face the Mets in his three-year major-league career.
He will oppose New York's Marcus Stroman (8-11, 2.79), who likewise pitched well on Thursday.
Stroman snapped a three-start skid by limiting the Washington Nationals to one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 4-1 win. He lowered his impressive road ERA to 2.64 in the process.
The Giants have almost as little familiarity with Stroman as the Mets have with Webb. Stroman, 30, has faced the Giants just once in his career, in a 5-4 loss for the Toronto Blue Jays in San Francisco on May 11, 2016.
Stroman did not get a decision in that game and takes a 3.00 lifetime ERA against the Giants into Tuesday's rematch.
Both pitchers will face a lineup that was firing on multiple cylinders in the series opener.
Bryant twice followed pinch hits with his homers, once after Alex Dickerson had doubled and the other time after Brandon Belt had gone deep.
Brandon Crawford also chipped in with a triple and three singles, raising his season average to .306.
Despite many options, Giants manager Gabe Kapler chose to focus on Bryant afterward.
"You kinda knew a quality game like this was coming for him," Kapler said of Bryant, who had just one homer in his first 14 games for the Giants. "He really drove the baseball tonight, and we needed it."
As a member of the Chicago Cubs, Bryant went 2-for-6 against Stroman, with a double.
Jonathan Villar launched a two-run homer, Pete Alonso had a two-run triple, J.D. Davis collected three hits and James McCann two for the Mets on Monday. New York overcame a 2-0 deficit and later twice got the potential tying run to the plate after having fallen behind by as many as four runs.
The Mets (59-59) own a .500 record for the first time since they were 13-13 in early May. Manager Luis Rojas stressed one game at a time despite the prospects of a tough week ahead with two more games against the Giants before a four-game trip to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers.
"I know they are going to show up every day with high energy," Rojas insisted Monday, "and face any team that stands in the way."
--Field Level Media