SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets had loads of baserunners Saturday towards the San Francisco Giants, with various courtesy of first baseman Rafael Devers, and but they stranded 10 of them.
However Mark Vientos managed to do exactly sufficient harm with a two-run double off left-hander Robbie Ray within the sixth inning, driving within the go-ahead runs to energy the Mets previous the Giants 2-1 at Oracle Park. The Mets prolonged their win streak to 6 video games and Vientos prolonged his hitting streak to 6 video games as nicely.
“Felt really good to get that second chance and come through for the boys,” Vientos stated. “Got a good pitch stand and put a good swing on it.”
In his earlier at-bat, he struck out with the bases loaded. There have been no outs within the prime of the fourth and he fell behind on Ray 1-2, earlier than taking a knuckle curve off the plate to even it at 2-2. Vientos swung on a slider that broke sharply to the within. It was an unsightly, off-balance swing in a second that would have damaged open the sport, however he didn’t let it deter him like he may need prior to now.
“Second at-bat happened, I was upset about it, and I told myself, ‘Hey, alright, play defense. Alright, next pitch. Alright, next at bat,’” Vientos stated. “That’s just the game. You’ve got to forget about things quickly.”
It confirmed maturation.
It’s no secret the third baseman has been going by means of a sophomore droop of kinds this season, which isn’t unusual for a 25-year-old. His time within the large leagues has been such a curler coaster since 2023 that it’s been robust to determine who the true Vientos is and what he’s able to regularly. He was used solely sparsely in 2023, left off the Opening Day roster in 2024 earlier than happening to hit 27 residence runs, however has struggled with timing points and defensive miscues within the first half of 2025.
The widespread chorus from gamers round this time of 12 months is that it’s a protracted season with loads of time for issues to show round.
The Mets’ offense desperately wants to show round its behavior of arising empty with runners on base, however on the similar time, among the workforce’s finest hitters are trending in the precise path in the meanwhile, with Vientos being certainly one of them.
“The biggest thing for me was after he doesn’t get the job done with the bases loaded there, he doesn’t get down,” stated supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “He gets another opportunity right there and comes through, so that’s a really good sign, especially when it’s been hard for you, and that’s the case for Mark.”
With runners on second and third with two outs, and the Giants up 1-0 within the prime of the sixth, Ray threw Vientos an 0-1 slider that caught an entire lot of the plate. Vientos drove it down the precise aspect to attain Juan Soto and Starling Marte simply. Two wonderful baserunners had been practically residence already when the ball kicked off the wall within the nook to ship Heliot Ramos chasing after it.
“He’s doing a better job of controlling the strike zone and just finding holes,” Mendoza stated. “We needed a hit like the one tonight, and it ended up being the biggest hit of the night. But I think his ability to turn the page was good to see tonight.”
To that time, Ray had deftly labored out of every jam he had confronted. Devers, taking part in first base for less than the third time this season, had wobbled, bobbled and dropped balls all night time, permitting runners at first. He dropped Brett Baty’s grounder proper earlier than the Vientos double, although he managed to tag the bag in time to make the out.
It created extra work for Ray (9-5), forcing him to throw extra pitches than he or the Giants (54-51) would have appreciated, although he didn’t precisely assist his personal trigger with three walks. His pitch to Vientos was his 102nd on the night time and his final. San Francisco then went to right-hander Ryan Walker with the underside two hitters of the Mets’ order due up.
Walker walked Francisco Alvarez and Tyrone Taylor to load the bases, however Brandon Nimmo checked out three straight sinkers to strike out and finish the inning, stranding the bases loaded for the second time. The Mets (61-44) went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring place.
Left-hander David Peterson restricted the Giants to just one earned run on eight hits, walked three and struck out 4 within the win (7-4), and Edwin Diaz labored round a double within the ninth to transform his twenty second save. Pete Alonso helped him seal the deal when he jumped a number of ft within the air to snare Patrick Bailey’s line drive for the third out.
Alonso additionally made a number of robust picks all through the night time at first base. It was a stark distinction from the play of Devers at first.
“It’s awesome,” Alonso stated of his closing play. “To be able to kind of end the game right there was big-time.”
Initially Revealed: July 26, 2025 at 11:46 PM EDT
