Quinton Fesq
The NY Mets trailed 2-1 heading into the 8th inning Sunday at Oracle Park, one run behind and running out of time against the Giants. What followed was a 4-run burst that turned a grinding, tense afternoon into a series-clinching 5-2 victory — and it started with the last man anyone expected.
Luis Torrens, came in as a pinch-hitter with runners at second and third after Keaton Winn replaced Logan Webb, ripped a line drive to right field that scored both Tyrone Taylor and Luis Robert Jr. in one swing. Mets 3, Giants 2. The ballpark that had been eerily quiet on the New York side came to life on the scoreboard.
It didn’t stop there. Mark Vientos followed with a ground ball to third, Matt Chapman threw it away, and Torrens scored. Then Marcus Semien lined a double to left to plate Vientos. Four runs, three hits, an error, and a sequence that erased six innings of tension in about 10 pitches.
The setup for that inning began in the 8th’s first at-bat, when Jorge Polanco doubled to right to put the first runner on. Bo Bichette grounded out to open the frame, but Polanco’s double brought in Taylor as a pinch-runner and set the table. Robert Jr. followed with a single. Two runners. Webb out of the game. Torrens in. The rest is a line in the box score that reads 4-2 like it was inevitable.
Senga Gave Them Every Chance to Win
Kodai Senga worked 5.2 innings, struck out 7, and held San Francisco to 2 runs on 5 hits. The 6th inning was the only real blemish — Francisco Alvarez had called out on strikes on an overturned ABS challenge in the 1st, and the game was close enough that every out carried weight. Patrick Bailey singled, stole second, and scored on a Matt Chapman double. Rafael Devers followed with an RBI single. Senga was done. The Mets were suddenly behind.
What made the outing useful wasn’t just the strikeout total — it was the 1-2-3 innings he stacked in between. He punched out the side in the 2nd, worked around traffic in the 4th, and kept San Francisco from doing anything meaningful until the one sequence that cost him. The 3.09 ERA is real.
Huascar Brazobán entered in relief and was outstanding — 1.1 innings, no hits, no runs, earning the win. Luke Weaver followed with a clean 8th, and Devin Williams closed it in the 9th for his 2nd save, stranding a pair of Giants baserunners without breaking a sweat.
Robert Jr. went 3-for-5 with 2 stolen bases. Jared Young was 3-for-3 with a double and threw out Jerar Encarnacion at second in the 5th. Carson Benge drew a walk, swiped a bag in the 7th, and added a stolen base. Francisco Lindor went 0-for-5.
The Mets close out a 4-3 road trip by taking 3 of 4 from the Giants in San Francisco. The bench won this game. That’s not a fluke — that’s a roster built to handle the moments when the lineup card runs out of obvious answers. If Torrens is what he looked like today off the bench, this team has a weapon most clubs don’t.
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