NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 02: Alex Wood #57 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the third inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 02, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
NEW YORK — Baseball has a way of foiling even the best-laid plans.
The Giants, so they thought, identified the ideal pocket of the Mets batting order to start Alex Wood’s outing. With lefty Brett Baty due up to begin the third inning, manager Gabe Kapler decided to go away from Ross Stripling, their starter/opener/whatever you want to call it at this point, despite breezing through the Mets’ first seven batters.
The matchup was supposed to give Wood a soft landing: the bottom two hitters of the Mets’ order and a platoon advantage against two of the first three batters he would face. It almost immediately began to go awry, as Wood had little feel for anything but his two-seam fastball and was out of the game before the end of the fourth inning.
Wood issued four walks, hit a batter and allowed five runs while recording five outs in an 8-4 loss to the Mets that will make a long flight home, scheduled to land sometime around 3 a.m. PT, even longer. It sent the Giants to their second straight series loss, and they now face a quick turnaround after a cross-country trip before beginning a three-game interleague set against the Seattle Mariners at 6:45 p.m. Monday.
Not all the Giants’ decisions backfired: Kapler called on Blake Sabol to pinch-hit for Austin Slater in the seventh inning, and the rookie launched a two-run home run that pulled San Francisco within two. J.D. Davis doubled home another, making it a one-run game, but that was as close as the Giants would get. Davis struck out to end a bases-loaded threat in the top half of the eighth, and Pete Alonso demolished a two-run homer to extend the Mets’ lead in the bottom half.
It took Wood 38 pitches to make it out of the third inning, after Stripling needed only 24 to complete the first two frames.
Wood fared much better in his first time this season entering out of the bullpen, tossing five shutout innings against the Blue Jays in the domed Rogers Centre. Exposed to the conditions at Citi Field — a downpour before first pitch and hot, humid air throughout — Wood was frequently wiping his brow and requesting new baseballs.
In perhaps the most pivotal at-bat of the game, with two outs, the bases loaded and no runs in yet in the third inning, Wood couldn’t land his changeup or slider for strikes against slugging first baseman Pete Alonso. He had already filled the base paths by walking two batters and hitting another.
Alonso spoiled four two-strike fastballs before taking the 10th pitch of the at-bat, a slider, about a foot off the plate for ball four, forcing in the Mets’ first run. The next batter, Jeff McNeil, hit a grounder up the middle that Thairo Estrada was able to backhand. But shortstop Brandon Crawford, covering second, wasn’t able to handle his throw, and two more runs scored.
The first batter of the fourth, Mark Canha, launched a solo shot to left field, making it 4-1, and Wood’s day was over after a two-out walk to leadoff man Brandon Nimmo, his fourth of the game. Nimmo also scored on a pop-up double from Tommy Pham that Luis Matos misplayed in right field against Tristan Beck, who inherited the runner from Wood and took down the most outs of the game, keeping San Francisco within striking distance.
Predating his placement on the injured list and his two-week absence, Wood’s left arm has fluctuated between lame and lethal every other outing. In six appearances (four starts) since May 26, he has held opponents to one or fewer runs over at least five innings in three of them; in the other three, he has allowed at least five runs while failing to make it out of the fifth.
Wood had issued four or more walks only once in his first two seasons with the Giants but has done so three times in 12 appearances this season. If the Giants thought a relief role would be the solution to his inconsistency, that hypothesis took a hit Sunday.
Up next
The Giants aren’t expected to land back in San Francisco until the early hours Monday morning, and Kapler acknowledged that this last stretch of games before the All-Star break is “gonna be a challenge.” They begin a three-game series against the Mariners at 6:45 p.m., then host a July 4 day game. This follows 4 a.m. local arrivals in Toronto and New York. Logan Webb, Monday’s scheduled starter, flew home ahead of the team.
Monday, 6:45 p.m. – RHP Logan Webb (7-3, 3.43) vs. RHP Bryan Woo (1-1, 4.37)
Tuesday, 1:35 p.m. – TBA vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (5-5, 4.19)
Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. – RHP Alex Cobb (5-3, 3.12) vs. RHP Bryce Miller (5-3, 3.97)
Originally published at Evan Webeck