What we learned as Joc’s heroics push Giants past Mets

NBC Sports

What we learned as Joc’s heroics push Giants past Mets

SAN FRANCISCO — Joctober happened in May, leading to one of the wildest wins in Giants history. 

Joc Pederson hit three homers and contributed to a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth as the Giants beat the New York Mets 13-12, snapping a five-game winning streak. Pederson came up with two on in the ninth and singled to center to tie the game. Brandon Crawford’s single brought Darin Ruf racing home with the winning run as Oracle Park erupted. 

Pederson became the first Giant to hit three homers in a regular-season game at Oracle Park — Pablo Sandoval did it in the World Series — and the first to have three multi-run homers in a game since Willie Mays did it in a four-homer game in 1961, and the Giants needed every single last drop of his production. 

His first two helped them build an 8-2 lead, but the Mets got two back in the seventh and the wheels completely fell off in the eighth. 

Setup man Tyler Rogers entered with a four-run lead and gave up four straight singles, cutting the lead in half. It seemed like he might get out of the jam when Mark Canha got thrown out on a fielder’s choice, but Brandon Nimmo reached on a high bouncer to re-load the bases. 

As Camilo Doval warmed up, Starling Marte hit a sharp grounder to third that Kevin Padlo couldn’t handle. That got the Mets within a run, and one final misplay from a Giants fielder proved to be the last dagger. Francisco Lindor lined a shot inside the left field line and Pederson let it get by him at the wall and then tripped. All three runners scored as Lindor cruised into third. 

The final damage in the eighth: seven runs on eight singles, a triple and a sacrifice fly. 

It was one of the most embarrassing innings in recent Giants history, but Pederson wiped away most of the bad vibes. With two on and two outs, he crushed a 415-foot blast into McCovey Cove to tie the game as Oracle Park roared. 

The Giants went on to load the bases but didn’t score, which would hurt. A leadoff triple and sacrifice fly put the Mets back on top in the ninth, but the Giants stunned Mets closer Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the inning. 

Joc Pop

Pederson was the team’s hottest hitter in April, but then he strained his groin and everything changed. Pederson was 4-for-45 with just one homer in 17 games since coming back from the injury, but he got back in his groove against Chris Bassitt. 

With the score tied at 1-1 in the third, Pederson jumped on a first-pitch cutter and hit a two-run shot into the arcade. Two innings later, he smoked a 2-0 sinker 436 feet to dead center. 

His third homer made him the second player — after Ryan Klesko — to have a Splash Hit as a Giant and as an opponent. The seven RBI smashed his previous career-high of five. 

Historic In The Wrong Way

Rogers entered the night with a 3.78 ERA and 2.99 FIP, but he had allowed five runs in eight appearances this month. The Mets put a big, big dent in his numbers. 

Rogers was charged with all seven runs in the eighth inning, the final one scoring on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly after he departed. He faced eight batters and seven of them got hits, raising his ERA to 7.41. 

Rogers became the seventh pitcher in franchise history to allow at least seven runs while recording just one out or fewer. He’s the first Giants reliever to do it, although two others have done it in MLB recently. Baltimore’s Spenser Watkins and Arizona’s Matt Peacock both had the same line last season. 

Shades of 2021 

After fighting his command for a few weeks, Logan Webb looked like Logan Webb in Colorado, and he had another solid one on Tuesday. Webb allowed five hits and two runs in five innings, striking out six. Three of them came in the first inning, when he got Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. 

Lindor and Alonso both went down swinging at sliders, the pitch that has given Webb the most trouble this season. Webb got three swinging strikes on the pitch in the first, when he had five overall, but he had just four swinging strikes the next four innings.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast