Mets' Bats Go Silent In San Francisco As Giants Even Series
SAN FRANCISCO (CBSNewYork/AP) — Bartolo Colon likes the way he's been pitching lately. Except for the losing part.
Colon allowed three runs and 10 hits, all singles, in six innings and the New York Mets were shut down by Matt Cain and four relievers in a 3-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
"Even though they had 10 hits, I felt like only two of them were hard hit," Colon said through an interpreter. "It felt good to be pitching this way even though we lost. The way they hit the ball, I knew I was executing my pitches."
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Colon (9-7) remained winless over his last four starts but has pitched well enough to feel heartened about moving forward. He's given up three runs in his past 13 innings.
"That's Bartolo. He throws strikes and makes you swing the bat," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "You look at the way they put the ball in play against them and six of those hits came with two outs."
Only Hunter Pence recorded a two-out RBI against Colon, and he's one of the more unorthodox hitters in the game.
"If you check, you'll see he has good numbers against me," Colon said. "I think maybe that's why they held him back and put him in the lineup today."
Pence, activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, drove in two runs and made what he called a "miracle" catch and throw that ruined the Mets' best chance of scoring.
Curtis Granderson opened the sixth with a triple and was tagging on Ruben Tejada's long fly ball that Pence caught sliding in foul territory. He came up firing and nailed Granderson at the plate.
"As soon as he sees the guy diving, he has a chance to score," Collins said. "Pence is not the prettiest looking player but he's one of the most effective. He's got a great arm, he runs the bases hard and he plays hard."
Cain pitched six innings of two-hit ball in his return to AT&T Park, earning his first win in nearly a year and ending the Giants' seven-game losing streak.
Cain (1-1) had not pitched at the Giants' waterfront ballpark since July 9, 2014, when he earned his last win before missing the final half of the season following elbow surgery.
Kevin Plawecki had two of the Mets' four hits.
One night after getting shut out for the eighth time this season, the Giants jumped on Colon and took advantage of New York's sloppy defense. Colon misplayed a soft comebacker in the second inning, while Daniel Murphy bobbled a ground ball in the third that led to two San Francisco runs, ending the Mets' 21-inning scoreless streak, their longest of the season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: RHP Jenrry Mejia was activated from the restricted list before the game after completing an 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The former closer was suspended in April after testing positive for the steroid Stanozolol. To clear room on the 40-man roster the Mets transferred Buddy Carlyle to the 60-day disabled list.
Giants: OF Nori Aoki (broken leg) could rejoin the team two weeks after the All-Star break, according to manager Bruce Bochy. ... LHP Jeremy Affeldt threw a bullpen session before the game. Affeldt will either throw to hitters next or go to the minors to make a rehab appearance. ... OF Ryan Lollis was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (8-6) pitches the series finale Wednesday afternoon in just his second career start against San Francisco. In his last 31 starts overall, deGrom has a 2.15 ERA.
Giants: RHP Jake Peavy (0-3) has won three of his previous five starts against the Mets but has a 3.82 ERA in those games.
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