Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Beede stared down a Cy Young winner and didn’t blink.
Neither did Jacob deGrom, and neither did Will Smith or Sam Dyson. But the Mets’ defense did.
Pablo Sandoval lofted a two-out fly to left field that Dominic Smith dropped, scoring Alex Dickerson in the 10th inning for a 1-0 Giants victory in perhaps the most bizarre ending to a San Francisco game this season.
It was the Giants’ seventh straight win, continuing to set new season-highs. They finally and remarkably have reached .500 (49-49) for the first time this year. They are victors of 14 of 16 and are making a valiant attempt to make Farhan Zaidi’s deadline decision for him.
It was Dickerson and Sandoval who were mobbed, but it was Beede who was sensational in front of 32,861.
His efficiency matched deGrom’s brilliance, the reigning Cy Young winner and the still-learning rookie going batter for batter.
A night after a 16-inning marathon and with a depleted bullpen, Beede was the sharpest he has been all season. He walked off the mound in the eighth to a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd that honored a starter for the second straight night.
He was impeccable, inducing the Mets into outs early in their at-bats over and over again. He threw just 89 pitches – 62 strikes – and spared a bullpen that needed it. He was more methodical than magical, relying primarily on a mid-90s fastball; his final clocked in at 94.7 mph.
In all, he went a career-high eight innings and surrendered just three hits and one walk. Only one Met reached second base against him.
In his past four starts and 27 innings, the 26-year-old has given up six runs (2.00 ERA) and 18 hits. His ERA has plummeted from 6.96 on June 22 to 4.70.
DeGrom was similarly frustrating for Giants batters, lasting seven innings and striking out 10 on three hits and three walks. The Giants had scored 40 runs in 37 innings at Coors. They’ve scored four runs in 26 innings, with the weather, park and Mets’ stars cooling sizzling bats.
They got the leadoff runner on five times before they finally were able to cash in. Threats were hard to come by for both teams, and when they were at hand they were wasted.
The Giants had runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, but Joe Panik struck out. The second baseman had a rough game, going 0-for-3 with a walk in three at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
Brandon Crawford walked to begin the bottom of the seventh, and Mike Yastrzemski bunted him to second. Kevin Pillar lined a shot to right that Jeff McNeil just barely chased down, advancing Crawford to third. But Panik, again, flew out.
Beede tried to help himself, opening the bottom of the sixth with a blooper just out of Robinson Cano’s reach for a single. Brandon Belt hit into a fielder’s choice before Austin Slater worked a 10-pitch walk. But Sandoval and Stephen Vogt struck out.
A leadoff walk to deGrom in the sixth had the potential to get Beede into his first bit of trouble. But he got McNeil to fly out, Michael Conforto to pop out and Pete Alonso to strike out.
Pillar lined a bullet double to the left-center gap with two outs in the fifth, the second Giants hit and first to get into scoring position. But Panik flew out to left to end the inning, any semblance of a rally dying quickly.