Giants homer early and often in victory over Mets

*Photo from the Press Democrat*

   One thing the San Francisco Giants can do really well is hit the ball. Joc Pederson homered, Evan Longoria homered twice, and the Giants defeated the New York Mets with a 9-3 victory on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco.

   After beating the Mets in a 13-12 thriller on Tuesday, the Giants offense blew the doors open in the series finale early, scoring 9 runs in two innings en route to a series win. Although they're only 4-6 in their last 10, they have two straight wins and a combined 24 runs over those two games to show for it.

   Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of Longoria that "One of the reasons we were successful last year is because our veteran players had signature and sort of career years. Longo was excellent when he was on the field for us. Obviously, he had some injuries and wasn’t able to complete a full season, but while he was there, he did very well for us. In order for us to get where we want to go, it’s going to have to be Crawford and Belt and Longo and Joc and some of these veteran players carrying us."

   Longoria got the Giants on the board first, blasting a 3 run home run to center field in the first inning, clearing the bases to make it 3-0 Giants. Pederson then hit a two run homer to make it 5-0 Giants before the first ended. In the second inning, Wilmer Flores hit an RBI double, followed by a two run home run from Mike Yastrzemski, and a solo shot from Longoria, making it 9-0 Giants after two innings.

   In the 3rd inning, the Mets got on the board, making it a 9-1 game when Luis Guillorme scored on a fielders choice off the bat of Brandon Nimmo. In the 6th inning, the deficit was cut to 9-2 when Francisco Lindor hit a solo home run. Nimmo scored on a Starling Marte groundout in the 8th inning to make it a 9-3 game.

   Longoria said after the game that "The game last night, those games can either catapult you forward or have a tendency to set you back. We were luckily on the winning end of that one last night, and today we came out excited, swung the bats well and won a series against a playoff team. That’s a good team. I think we’re all happy with the results."

   Getting the start for the Giants was Jakob Junis, who allowed two runs on 3 hits and one walk over 6 innings, getting the win to improve to 2-1 this season. Jose Alvarez allowed one run in one inning of work, before Zack Littell and Mauricio Llovera each threw scoreless innings to end the game.

   For the Mets, Thomas Szapucki got roughed up in his start after being called up. Szapucki allowed all 9 runs, giving up 7 hits and 3 walks over 1 1/3 innings. Trevor Williams provided 3 2/3 innings of relief, before Colin Holderman, Seth Lugo, and Chasen Shreve worked scoreless innings.

   Mets manager Buck Showalter said of Szapucki's start that "Szapucki just never could get into a rhythm. Command was an issue. You know he wanted to do well with the opportunity that he had. They were on about everything he threw."

   Up next, the Mets welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to town on Friday night after a day off, with Carlos Carrasco to get the start. The Giants also have a day off on Thursday, before playing the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, with Carlos Rodon to start.