Tim Lincecum looked like good ole Tim Lincecum tonight, as he befuddled the Mets with seven strikeouts in seven innings to lead San Francisco to a 4-1 win. Although Matt Harvey wasn’t half bad himself, he did pitch himself into a couple of jams that directly led to the Giants scoring runs.
In the bottom of the second, San Francisco loaded the bases with a Buster Posey single, a Marco Scutaro double and a Brandon Belt walk. Harvey recovered to get Justin Christian to ground back to the mound for a 1-2 fielder’s choice, but the next batter proved troublesome. Brandon Crawford hit a grounder right at second base and Daniel Murphy flipped to Ruben Tejada for one out. In an attempt at a double play, Tejada’s throw to first went wild and two runs scored on the play.
San Francisco would score on an actual double play in the sixth inning. Marco Scutaro grounded to Tejada at shortstop after the Giants had once again loaded the bases with no outs. Besides those two innings, Harvey ran into virtually no trouble and finished with seven strikeouts and three walks in six innings. Harvey used his change-up a lot more than he did in his first start, and for some reason this upset people.
The Mets scored their one run in the top of the second when Justin Turner hit an RBI double for the second game in a row. In the seventh, New York came close to another when David Wright pinch hit for Harvey with the bases loaded and two outs. However, Lincecum used a wicked curveball to freeze Wright and end the threat.
Turning point: The error by Tejada in the second inning didn’t seem like a crucial point in the game when it happened, but Lincecum’s performance gave the Mets no leeway. The mistake proved decisive as the game wore on.
Game ball: Matt Harvey was once again a bright spot for the Mets, though I fear the narrative will revolve more on his “poise” with the bases loaded than on his ability to get swings and misses with more than one pitch.
Next game: Tomorrow night the Mets are back at AT&T Park with Jon Niese on the mound to take on San Francisco’s ace Matt Cain. Hunter Pence should be in the Giants lineup after finally arriving in the Bay Area at the end of tonight’s game.
