San Francisco Giants end New York Mets' eight-game winning streak

After winning the first two games of the series and running their win streak up to nine games, the Mets looked to finish off the San Francisco Giants. To do so the Mets sent ace, Noah Syndergaard to the hill as he looked to win his third games this season. The Giants sent an ace of their own in Madison Bumgarner who was also seeking his third win. With these aces on the mound, the game promised to be a pitching duel that featured two of the games greatest starters.

Pitching dominates beginning of game

As expected pitching dominated. Both Syndergaard and Bumgarner cruised through the first three innings with little to no trouble as both appeared to baffle hitters through all nine innings.

The highlight of the second inning came on a David Wright barehanded pickup, and throw out of Hunter Pence. The Giants would challenge the call, but Pence was ruled out, and the Giants lost their challenge.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Mets began to amount a rally as David Wright walked and Yoenis Cespedes double put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. But Bumgarner never got rattled as induced Neil Walker, who has been one of the Mets hottest hitters, to pop out to end the inning.

Giants break Syndergaard, explode on offense

In the top of the 4th the Giants finally got to Noah Syndergaard. After slipping and falling on the wet mound, Syndergaard struggled to settle back down against the pesky Giants. With runners on first and third and one out, manager Bruce Bochy, in a brilliant move decided to send the runner Buster Posey, so when Brandon Belt grounded to second, the Mets could not turn the double play, which allowed Matt Duffy to score to give the Giants the one run lead. But the damage did not end there. The next batter was Hunter Pence who sent an 0-1 pitch into right field for a 2-run homer, to make it a 3-0 Giants lead.

As the Mets continued to falter at the plate, the Giants did not let up. After Noah Syndergaard was removed from the game, most likely due to the inclement weather, the Giants were there to greet the young Mets reliever. Once again it was Hunter Pence who delivered another hit into right field, this time it was just a single, but it scored another runner with two outs in the top of the 6th, to give the Giants a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bumgarner got into some trouble, when he loaded the bases with two outs. At a 109 pitches, manager Bruce Bochy was faced with a tough decision. The Giants bullpen had been overused over the last couple of nights, but he did not want to add such a large workload to his ace so early in the season. He opted to keep Bumgarner in the game to pitch to pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera. Cabrera, who was given the day off, promptly struck out on three pitches to end the Mets threat.

Mets struggle at the plate

The Mets continued to not do anything with runners in scoring position as the Giants bullpen took over after a strong outing by Bumgarner. Bumgarner went six innings, gave up six hits, three walks and struck out seven. After he exited, Bochy mixed and matched over the final two innings before Santiago Casilla came in, secured the save, and the Giants won 6-1.

Side Notes

Noah Syndergaard’s final like: 5 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.

Hunter Pence: 2-4, homerun, and 3 RBIs

David Wright: 2-4, RBI

San Francisco Giants: 4 stolen bases