With the exception of the fifth inning, the Giants played a good game, but unfortunately a baseball game is nine innings. A big eight-run fifth inning by the Mets was enough for them to beat the Giants 9-6.
Until the fifth inning, Barry Zito looked alright after allowing a run in the first inning to give the Mets a small lead right off the bat. In the fifth inning everything went to hell for Zito as he struggled with his control, walking batters left and right. The Mets hitters made him pay, scoring the first five runs of the inning off him. He finished the day giving up five walks, six runs (five of them earned) on seven hits in just four and a third innings of work. Vinnie Chulk came in to try to limit the damage, but the Mets got to him as well. He allowed three more runs to score in the fifth inning (two of them earned), but then settled down and pitched a scoreless sixth. Rookie Pat Misch finished the game, pitching three perfect innings with three strikeouts. Defensively, the Giants made three errors, two of which cost the team. Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, and John Bowker each made fielding errors around the infield.
Despite falling behind early, the Giants quickly tied the game back up in the bottom half of the first inning. The Giants were able to add two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning after the Mets broke out for eight runs in their half of the frame. Travis Denker was brought into the game in the fifth inning to replace Durham who had made a costly error earlier, that decision paid off immediately. Denker singled and scored a run in the fifth inning, and also added three runs in the ninth with a three-run homer with no outs, forcing the Mets to bring in closer Billy Wagner. Wagner effectively ended any threat of a comeback. Leftfielder Fred Lewis scored three of the Giants runs while going two-for-four with a single and a double; he also walked once.
The series finale will be a middle of the week afternoon game, starting at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday’s game will feature an interesting matchup between rhyming pitchers John Maine and Matt Cain. A win tomorrow will give the Giants the series and a day of rest on Thursday.
