This is how it was supposed to look.
Held down for seven innings after which they trailed 2-0, the Mets lineup went to work in the eighth.
Brett Baty, who has not distinguished himself this season, pinch hit and clubbed an opposite-field solo shot. A.J. Ewing, a rare bright spot of a dark year, followed by stroking a single and advancing to second on a Luis Torrens sacrifice bunt. A sinking liner to right from Francisco Lindor was caught, but the out moved Ewing 90 feet away from tying the game.
New York Mets third baseman Bo Bichette (19) reacts after hitting a three-run home run to give the Mets the lead during the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, at Citi Field in Queens, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post
And after Juan Soto was intentionally walked to add a “little bit” more fuel for Bo Bichette, he would later say, Bichette did one better than tying it: A player the Mets signed partly because of his work in the clutch smoked a two-out, go-ahead, three-run homer to left off Carson Seymour, which the Mets rode to a 4-2 victory over the Giants in front of 29,410 at Citi Field.
If Bichette opts back in to a contract that would pay him $42 million next season, afternoons like Sunday’s would make 2027 a bit brighter for the Mets.
“Bo’s a star,” interim manager Andy Green said after a team that is clearly still trying seized a second straight series. “Stars should play like stars when they’re on the baseball field, and that’s how we see him.”
That is not how Bichette played for the first roughly eight weeks of the season, during which the Mets sank and an established, expensive bat could not get going.
But since the middle of May, Bichette has played like, well, Bo Bichette. Since May 18, Bichette raised his OPS from .531 to .713, a steady flow of hits for almost four months in which he is batting .292 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs.
“I think when you look at who he’s been since maybe the middle of May,” Green said, “… He’s been really, really good. And that’s a huge swing.”
Bichette swung, admired his work of art’s trajectory and glanced into a raucous Mets dugout before beginning to circle the bases.
There are reasons for the Mets — who would have their first-round draft selection docked 10 picks if it falls outside of the top six — to disregard the results of games during a September in which the playoffs are out of reach.
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But the Mets, who managed just four hits and only tallied two at-bats with a runner in scoring position through seven innings against Cesar Perdomo and Joel Kuhnel, did not stop trying in a season in which effort has not been the problem.
“Doesn’t really matter how’s the game gone,” Bichette said, “as long as you get it done at some point.”