SAN FRANCISCO — With their lineup finally nearing full strength, the Giants’ dugout must have felt a sense of relief Sunday when it was Joc Pederson stepping to the plate in the cleanup hole.
It was Pederson, in his first at-bat in nearly two weeks, who sent a line drive screaming into right field in the first inning, driving in the Giants’ first run. And it was Pederson, after drawing a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth, who came screaming all the way from first on Mike Yastrzemski’s double to score the go-ahead run in the Giants’ 5-4 win over the Mets on Sunday, clinching a split in the four-game series.
After coming out on top Saturday, the Giants have won consecutive games for the first time this season.
With offensive contributions from Pederson and Thairo Estrada and a shutdown effort from their maligned relief group, the Giants overcame a short outing from Ross Stripling, who allowed three runs (two earned) over 3⅓ innings while filling Alex Wood’s rotation spot for the first time.
Stripling successfully navigated one bases-loaded jam but couldn’t escape a second and was lifted in favor of Taylor Rogers with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth.
Rogers was primed to get out of the inning with minimal damage, but an error by Michael Conforto allowed the Mets to extend the inning and plate an additional run. Mark Canha, pinch-hitting for Luis Guillome, lofted an easy fly ball to right — it should have been a sacrifice fly — but Conforto let the ball fall off the tip of his glove, allowing one run to score. Brandon Nimmo took advantage of the extra out with a deep sac fly to center for the Mets’ second run of the inning.
After eight scoreless appearances, Tyler Rogers surrendered his first run, which also tied the game at 4 in the sixth.
First-pitch swinging, catcher Francisco Álvarez barely cleared the left-field wall with his first home run — and the first extra-base hit by a Mets catcher, period — this season. It was also the first run Rogers had allowed since Sept. 6 of last season, a stretch of 26⅔ innings, which was the second-longest active scoreless streak in the majors.
Besides Rogers, there had been few bright spots early this season in the Giants’ bullpen, which had already lost five games, blown two saves and entered Sunday’s series finale with the fourth-highest ERA in the majors (5.56). But the group locked down to hold the Mets to one run over the final five innings after Stripling’s early exit.
After a pair of soft singles in the second inning, Stripling fumbled a soft roller toward first base, loading the bases with one out. While the Mets seemed primed to strike, Brandon Crawford cleanly fielded a 110.5-mph ground ball from Álvarez — the hardest-hit ball of the game — and started an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Stripling lasted 3⅓ innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, but he left with the lead.
In his return to the lineup after a nine-game absence, Pederson made an immediate impact, driving home LaMonte Wade Jr. in the first inning for the first of four runs against Mets starter Tylor Megill.
Continuing his excellent start to the season, Estrada extended the lead to 2-0 in the second inning with a 413-foot blast to left field. Estrada, who already leads the team in steals (five), is now tied for the team lead in homers, with four. If he continues at this pace, Estrada would finish the season with 31 homers and 39 stolen bases, which would make him the first Giants player with a 20-20 season since Hunter Pence (2013) and their first infielder to do so since Orlando Cepeda (1959).
Estrada used his speed to beat out a double play ball in the fourth, advanced first to third on a single from Brandon Crawford, and scored on a line-drive single from Blake Sabol. Brett Wisely, second only to Estrada in speed, also used his wheels to beat out what would have been an inning-ending double play, allowing Crawford to score from third to reclaim the lead, 4-3.
