Rookie lefty Zac Thornton, who carried a surprising 2.93 ERA over 11 starts into today’s game, delivered his worst major league outing, a performance that buried the New York Mets in a brutal 9-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants. San Francisco jumped all over Thornton within minutes, as Rafael Devers absolutely blasted Thornton’s fourth pitch of the afternoon over the right field wall for a one-out solo homer. Talk about a cold start! The Mets did answer back in the bottom of the second, though. A.J. Ewing, who’s been struggling hard in the second half, found his swing for a two-out, two-run homer off Giants starter Anthony Molina. That gave the Amazins a 2-1 lead, but man, they couldn’t hold onto it for anything.
Thornton’s Horrible Day Just Kept Getting Worse
That brief lead evaporated fast. Thornton gave up a lead-off single in the third, then Christian Koss, who had only one homer all season before this game, crushed a two-run shot to put the Giants back in front. Thornton actually settled down for a bit, retiring his next eight batters, but then Koss came up again in the fifth and decided to hit his *second* home run of the afternoon! Are you kidding me? Not to be outdone, Devers stepped up two batters later, after a single, and launched his *second* bomb of the day too. Thornton gave up one more hit, a double from Bryce Eldridge, before finally getting out of the inning, but the damage was done. It was a 6-2 ballgame, and Thornton’s line was ugly: 5 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, and 6 runs allowed. Meanwhile, the Mets’ bats went completely silent against Molina after Ewing’s homer; that was the Giants’ only hit surrendered through six innings.
The Bullpen Couldn’t Stop The Bleeding
Both teams went to their bullpens in the sixth, but Molina’s final line looked a whole lot better than Thornton’s. Chris Devenski was the first reliever for the Mets, and he actually did his job, tossing two scoreless innings. The bats finally sparked a little in the bottom of the seventh. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but Francisco Alvarez struck out swinging for the second out. Brett Baty then walked to bring in a run, making it 6-3. But that potential tying run was stranded when Francisco Lindor grounded out to first, killing the threat. And you know the Giants weren’t going to let that slide. Jefry Yan took the mound in the top of the eighth, issued a one-out walk to Eldridge, and then Osleivis Basabe made him pay with a two-run homer. That made it 8-3, and the Giants didn’t stop there, ultimately leading to that brutal 9-5 final score. This was a tough one, a real gut punch that shows how quickly things can go sideways when the pitching falters.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Amazin’ Avenue.
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