Joc Pederson hits 3 HRs, 8 RBIs; Giants outslug Mets
SAN FRANCISCO — Joc Pederson homered three times and drove in a career-high eight runs, including a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants outslugged the New York Mets 13-12 on Tuesday night in one of the wildest games imaginable.
Brandon Crawford hit a game-winning single off closer Edwin Díaz and the Giants — after blowing a late six-run lead — somehow recovered to pull off two improbable comebacks of their own.
San Francisco squandered an 8-2 cushion by giving up seven runs in the eighth to fall behind 11-8. Pederson tied it with a three-run homer in the bottom half, but the Giants trailed 12-11 in the ninth before rallying with two outs and none on to stun New York and end their five-game losing streak.
Francisco Lindor homered and drove in six runs for the Mets, including a bases-loaded triple that put them ahead in the eighth.
Pederson launched a pair of two-run homers off Mets starter Chris Bassitt. San Francisco's slumping cleanup hitter then crushed his third homer of the night, a three-run drive into McCovey Cove off reliever Drew Smith with two outs in the eighth to erase New York's 11-8 lead.
Pederson was 4 or 46 in May before his big day.
The Mets went back ahead in the ninth on Brandon Nimmo's sacrifice fly after Dominic Smith's leadoff triple.
But in the bottom half, Mike Yastrzemski walked with two outs and Darin Ruf singled. Pederson's single tied it and Crawford, who struck out three times earlier, followed with a sharp single off Díaz (1-1) that drove in Ruf.
It was the third blown save for Díaz. John Brebbia (2-0) got the win.
The loss prevented the Mets (29-16) from being the first National League team to reach 30 victories. The Yankees were the first American League team to do it, having beaten the Orioles earlier in the day.
Eduardo Escobar had four hits for the Mets, who put together their latest big comeback before falling short. New York scored five runs in the ninth inning of a 5-2 win at St. Louis on April 25 and seven in the ninth for an 8-7 victory at Philadelphia on May 5.
Giants reliever Tyler Rogers allowed four consecutive singles to open the eighth, and Smith's two-run single made it 8-6. After Mark Canha was caught in a rundown between third base and home plate, Nimmo reached on an infield single and Starling Marte singled in a run to load the bases.
Lindor followed with a sharp liner into the left-field corner and Pederson briefly fumbled the ball as all three runners scored. Pete Alonso added a sacrifice fly.
Tommy La Stella hit a three-run homer for the Giants. His second this season also came off Bassitt, who was tagged for a career-high eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.
NUMBERS GAME
San Francisco had a 99.2% win probability when leading 8-2, according to Fangraphs, 3.6% when trailing 11-8 and 4.2% when behind 12-11 with two outs and none on in the ninth.
HISTORY LESSON
Pederson's eight RBIs were tied for third-most by a Giants player in one game since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920. The only players with more were Phil Weintraub with 11 in April 1944 and Irish Meusel with nine in September 1925.
WEBB EXTENDS HOME STREAK
Giants starter Logan Webb had six strikeouts in five uneven innings. The right-hander, whose only defeat this season came against the Mets in April, has not lost at home since Aug. 27, 2020 — a stretch of 18 consecutive starts, tying the longest streak in modern-era franchise history.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants 3B Evan Longoria was held out because of a jammed left shoulder.
UP NEXT
Giants RHP Jakob Junis (1-1, 2.70 ERA) has not won since beating the Nationals in his season debut on April 22. Mets manager Buck Showalter had not announced a starter for Wednesday.
