SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Mets waited most of Sunday afternoon to start their offensive engine, and once it got revved, they weren\u2019t about to leave Oracle Park with anything short of a series victory.<\/p>\n
One at-bat after another in the eighth inning they persisted, placing hits in all corners of the field until four runs scored in a 5-2 victory over the Giants.<\/p>\n
Luis Torrens\u2019 pinch-hit double brought in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth before the Mets added on. That meant Mark Vientos and Marcus Semien each with a run-scoring hit, allowing a cushion for Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, who pitched the final two innings scoreless.<\/p>\n
The Mets won their third straight to complete a 4-3 road trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team has looked excellent the way the pitchers are pitching and the hitters are hitting,\u201d Torrens said through an interpreter. \u201cIt\u2019s been really special to come back in these games and just how [Kodai] Senga pitched today was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jared Young, who had already delivered three hits in the game, wasn\u2019t permitted to face lefty reliever Erik Miller in the eighth with runners on second and third with one out. Enter Torrens, who worked the at-bat to nine pitches before slicing a changeup just inside the right field line, scoring both runners.<\/p>\n
Kodai Senga of the Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the third inning at Oracle Park on April 05, 2026 in San Francisco, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n
A short bench \u2014 Brett Baty was scratched from the lineup with left thumb soreness and Juan Soto is awaiting further evaluation on a right calf strain \u2014 left Carlos Mendoza\u2019s options limited. The manager credited bench coach Kai Correa with the idea to use Torrens, the backup catcher, as a pinch hitter if an opportunity against a left-hander arose.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd sure enough the situation presented itself and we shot him and [Torrens] was ready to go from the very beginning and he executed,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cYou are not so inclined to use the catcher when you are short on the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torrens scored when Matt Chapman threw away Vientos\u2019 grounder. The go-ahead rally was complete on Semien\u2019s RBI double. Others involved included Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., whose double and single, respectively, ignited the comeback. Robert also stole second, eluding the tag on a throw that had him beat.<\/p>\n
Mets\u2019 Tyrone Taylor (15) celebrates with Luis Robert Jr. (88) after both scored on Luis Torrens\u2019 two-run double against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, April 5, 2026. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got good players up and down,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with a few guys that have injuries and we\u2019re feeling really good, not only with the guys that are in the lineup who are getting to play more, but on the bench as well. There\u2019s a lot of versatility. There\u2019s a lot of things we can do because of the flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a second straight solid outing to begin his season, Senga allowed two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks over 5 \u00b2\/\u2083 innings. The right-hander took a shutout into the sixth but was undermined by two bloop hits sandwiched around Chapman\u2019s game-tying double. Huascar Brazob\u00e1n gave the Mets 1 \u00b9\/\u2083 scoreless innings in relief before Weaver and Williams handled the rest.<\/p>\n
Vientos\u2019 sizzling stretch continued with an RBI single in the second that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Vientos, who reached base seven times over the previous two games, is batting .476.<\/p>\n
Robert and Young singled in succession before Vientos delivered against Logan Webb with a third straight hit to begin the inning. But Semien\u2019s ensuing double-play grounder thwarted dreams of a big inning.<\/p>\n
Mets\u2019 Marcus Semien, right, celebrates after hitting an RBI double against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, April 5, 2026. AP<\/p>\n
Senga struck out six of eight batters to begin his afternoon, utilizing the forkball as his weapon of choice.<\/p>\n
Luis Arraez\u2019s 10-pitch at-bat culminated with a leadoff single in the fourth, but Senga rebounded by getting Chapman to ground into a double play. After Rafael Devers walked, Senga escaped the inning by getting Heliot Ramos to hit into a fielder\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n
Jerar Encarnacion smoked a shot off the left field fence in the fifth, but Young fielded the carom cleanly and threw a strike to Semien, nailing Encarnacion as he attempted to stretch the single into a double.<\/p>\n
Chapman jumped on an 0-1 forkball in the sixth and smashed an RBI double that tied it 1-1. Patrick Bailey singled leading off the inning and stole second before Chapman, with one out, delivered. Devers\u2019 ensuing bloop single \u2014 just in front of a lunging Robert \u2014 gave the Giants a 2-1 lead and ended Senga\u2019s afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Mets waited most of Sunday afternoon to start their offensive engine, and once it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35579,48578,27921,20,9,2683,11,320,10,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-186762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-kodai-senga","9":"tag-luis-robert-jr","10":"tag-marcus-semien","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-giants","14":"tag-new-york-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}