How was your Friday night?

It soured quickly.

A 2-out dribbler off the bat of Jeff McNeil turned into a run scored. A pitch later Pete Alonso turned a 2-strikeout night into a 2-run woes-eraser blast to dead center. What was a 1-run hole became something insurmountable.

Oddly reminiscent of Jorge Soler’s homer off Webb last Sunday.

But the death rattle for tonight came after the error by Bart. Eyes glazed over. Gum chewed vacantly. Hands went to the hips. Fingers played with the laces of gloves.

With McNeil’s speed, Bart had to hurry the throw, soaking him the NL reigning batting champ between the shoulder plays. Great play in the 19th century “Massachusetts game.” Slick display in a neighborhood game of pickle—manhole to manhole. Not ideal for Major League Baseball. Not ideal for these San Francisco Giants who are struggling to even win games they don’t actively sabotage with miscues.

At least Bart didn’t tackle his pitcher...

The 5th was Disco’s last. It was the shortest outing of the season so far—allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. His first walk of the season came in the 4th, having thrown 22.1 innings before allowing a free bag.

But like I said before—the game went south fast. Before McNeil’s at-bat in the 5th, the game was another chapter in Disco’s 2023 resurgence. He continued to attack the strike zone with a tight slider and for the most part, worked around some pesky Mets hitters who were aggressive in early counts and put the ball in play.

Four of New York’s hitters in the 2nd put the first pitch of the at-bat in play. They were able to cash in 3 singles and 5 balls in play for the first run of the game.

In this Statcast era, three singles doesn’t feel like it should equal a home run. Single, fielder’s choice forceout, single, dribbler that advances the runners, single = run.

This is how the Mets have operated last year and they’re doing it again this year. Balls in play. Productive outs. They ain’t slugging the ball—they’re just moving it around. Their speed, defense, and bat-to-ball skills just make things uncomfortable for the opposing team. They spent the entire night peppering well-struck grounders through gaps in the infield and dropping line drives in front of outfielders.

With 2-outs in the 9th, New York plated 3 more runs on 5 singles and a HBP. As if they needed the insurance.

Innings like New York’s 2nd and 9th make baseball look like simple arithmetic. 12 singles and 1 home run usually equals a win.

It’s still advanced calculus to San Francisco.

The Giants battered line-up continues to be flummoxed by left-handed pitching. Starter Joey Lucchesi spread 4 hits thinly across 7 shutout innings, fanning 9.

The Giants K’ed 12 times in total. The only extra base hit allowed by Mets pitching came off the bat of Wilmer Flores in the 1st. Offensive threats in the 1st, 3rd, and 6th were nullified by routine double plays.

Flores’ double to Darin Ruf’s walk in the 1st were the only Giants to reach base in consecutive at-bats the entire night. Before Ruf’s 2-out single in the 9th—earning a smattering of probably sarcastic but I choose to think genuine and sincere applause—the last Giants player to reach base was with no outs in the 6th.

Really the only offensive highlight was Brett Wisely’s first MLB hit to lead off the 3rd. A slap single to the opposite field for a batting average—for a moment he looked like a Met!

David Villar, starting at second base again, showed penance for his previous brain fart that cost SF a game in Detroit, by flashing some early leather in—what was then—a close game.

He kept a crooked number off the board by gathering a 105 MPH bounder up the middle to record the final out in the 2nd. In the 4th, he reeled in a 108 MPH line drive off the bat of Baty that probably would’ve set up runners at the corners with one out if un-snagged.

All in all—the Mets were fun to watch.