NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Bailey hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning, Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman saved San Francisco with a defensive gem and the Giants came back from another big deficit to beat the staggering New York Mets 8-7 on Friday night.
After climbing out of a 6-2 hole in the eighth, the Giants joined the 1932 St. Louis Cardinals as the only major league teams since 1900 to win three consecutive road games in which they trailed by at least four runs.
Just two other clubs have accomplished the feat at home: the 1999 Florida Marlins (against San Francisco) and the 1961 Boston Red Sox.
“It’s the same thing the last three days: We’re just fighting to the finish,” manager Bob Melvin said. “When we get guys on base, there’s just a really good feeling in the dugout that someone’s going to come up with a big hit.”
Down 8-6 in the ninth, the Mets mounted a late rally of their own. They scored once on Francisco Lindor’s RBI single off the right-field fence and loaded the bases with one out before Camilo Doval struck out slugger J.D. Martinez on three pitches.
Doval fell behind 3-0 on Mark Vientos but got back to a full count and induced a slow bouncer to third. Chapman charged, barehanded the ball on a do-or-die play and fired off balance across the diamond to first, where LaMonte Wade Jr. made a difficult pick of an in-between hop for the final out.
“Fantastic, on both ends of it,” Melvin said. “I didn’t think he had a chance to make that play.”
A fired-up Chapman ran alongside the dugout railing for a receiving line of high-fives to his glove from teammates, and the out call at first base was quickly upheld following a replay review.
“I think it’s the most excited I’ve ever gotten after a play,” Chapman said. “To be able to have a walk-off play on defense like that with the bases loaded, game on the line, I think that’s probably the best one, for sure. Kind of surprised myself even a little bit there, so it was just a lot of fun.”
Or, as Bailey put it: “My goodness, that was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen made on a baseball field.”
Jorge Soler and Mike Yastrzemski also homered for the Giants (26-26), who won their seventh in eight games to reach .500 for the first time since they were 2-2 on March 31.
San Francisco trailed 6-2 with two outs in the eighth before Thairo Estrada laced an RBI double, Chapman walked to load the bases and Bailey launched a 2-0 fastball from Reed Garrett (5-2) to right-center for his first career slam.
“He’s been really consistent for us the whole year and he just happened to have a bad inning today,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Garrett.
It was Bailey’s first home run since April 26. The switch-hitting catcher was reinstated Tuesday from his second stint on the seven-day concussion injured list.
Yastrzemski added a solo shot off Jorge López in the ninth to make it 8-6. San Francisco also overcame a 5-0, fifth-inning deficit in a 9-5 win Wednesday at Pittsburgh, then rallied from down 6-2 in the eighth to beat the Pirates 7-6 on Thursday.
Before this week, the Giants had never won consecutive road games after trailing by four runs — let alone three in a row.
“That was a hell of a win,” Bailey said.
New York (21-29), off to its worst 50-game start since 2013, has lost four straight and 11 of 14. Martinez, Vientos and Pete Alonso homered in the opener of a pivotal 10-game homestand for the Mets, who became the fifth team to lose three consecutive games in which they hit three home runs in each one.
“What a stretch, mind boggling. I know how disheartening this is for our fans,” Mets owner Steve Cohen posted on the social media site X, adding a thank you “for caring so much.”
The latest meltdown by New York’s bullpen cost Christian Scott his first career win after the rookie starter permitted two runs and two hits in six innings.
“Obviously, we’re angry,” Mendoza said. “But at the same time, you have to stay positive. You’ve got to keep going.”
Nick Avila (1-0) struck out four in two innings of one-run ball for his first major league win. Doval earned his ninth save, with help from Chapman and another excellent defensive play turned in moments earlier by Estrada and Wade on the right side of the infield.
Martinez and Vientos hit New York’s first back-to-back homers this season off rookie Kyle Harrison in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: LHP Robbie Ray (left elbow UCL surgery) is scheduled to throw 20 pitches Saturday when he faces hitters for the first time. … RHP Keaton Winn (right forearm strain) was slated to throw a bullpen. … RHP Alex Cobb (mild right flexor strain) will start playing catch on flat ground this weekend.
Mets: LHP David Peterson (left hip surgery) threw 89 pitches, 65 for strikes, over four innings for Triple-A Syracuse in what could be his final minor league rehab start. He’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list early next week.
UP NEXT
Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-1, 2.38 ERA) faces RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 3.48) in the middle game of the series Saturday.
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