Giants walk off on Mets' misplay, streak to .500
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SAN FRANCISCO -- As the Giants’ stalemate against the Mets extended into extra innings for the second consecutive night, Tyler Beede and the injured Evan Longoria gathered in the clubhouse to watch the action unfold on television.
When the cameras showed Pablo Sandoval lift a routine fly ball to left field with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Beede assumed the game was heading to the 11th. Then he heard the roars from the crowd.
After a brief broadcast delay, Beede saw what had sent the 32,861 fans at Oracle Park into a frenzy: Mets left fielder Dominic Smith dropped Sandoval’s fly ball, allowing Alex Dickerson to score from first base to give the Giants a bizarre 1-0 walk-off win Friday night.
“Well, we got a break,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You take it.”
After winning seven consecutive games and 14 of their last 16, the red-hot Giants (49-49) have now climbed to .500 for the first time this season, a remarkable surge that has put them only two games out of the National League Wild Card race.
“We’re playing such great baseball,” Beede said. “We certainly don’t try to look at our record too much or where we’re at in the standings, but we feel like we’re one of the best teams in baseball right now.”
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Beede was locked in a pitchers’ duel with Jacob deGrom for most of the night, and he bested the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner by shutting out the Mets over a career-high eight innings. Beede allowed only three hits while walking one and striking out five in the 89-pitch gem.
After retiring Michael Conforto on a flyout to end the eighth, Beede walked off the field to a standing ovation. Over his last three starts, the 26-year-old rookie has posted a 1.66 ERA over 21 2/3 innings, lowering his overall ERA to 4.70 on the season.
“You saw some great pitching tonight,” Bochy said. “That’s what the story of that game was. Just terrific pitching on both sides. deGrom, he’s one of the best. You know you have your hands full, but our guy, he really gave us what we needed.”
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Dickerson led off the 10th with a walk off Mets reliever Jacob Rhame, who then struck out Brandon Belt and Austin Slater to face Sandoval with two outs. Dickerson ran hard as soon as Sandoval hit the ball in the air, putting him in position to score the game-winning run on Smith’s misplay.
"Right as I was crossing second I took a peek at the left fielder and he looked tentative," Dickerson said. "I know I've been in that situation before. Once you're tentative on those balls anything can happen. I was going as hard as I could, and once it dropped I was going to do everything I could to head home."
Beede and Longoria celebrated the unusual ending in the clubhouse. Moments later, they were joined by the rest of their jubilant teammates.
“He scores, and we freak out,” Beede said. “We’re two guys celebrating in here, slapping hands and wishing we were outside. It’s awesome. To have the fog machines going, the strobe lights and the music playing, that’s what you play for.”