Giants Top Mets 7-2, Devers Homer and Susac Milestone Highlight Win

The Giants' bottom of the order told the whole story at Oracle Park on Thursday. Daniel Susac, batting eighth in his first major league start, singled twice off David Peterson and added another hit against Sean Manaea, going 3-for-3 with a walk. Casey Schmitt, batting ninth, matched him with three hits and an RBI. Together, San Francisco's last two lineup spots anchored a 13-hit assault that routed the Mets 7-2 and handed New York its third consecutive loss.

The scoring came quickly and in waves. The Giants put three runs on the board in the first inning against Peterson, the last of which scored when Peterson dropped the throw from Mark Vientos covering first on Jung Hoo Lee's grounder, letting Matt Chapman cross the plate on the error. Vientos answered with a solo home run off Robbie Ray in the third to trim the deficit to 3-2, but Harrison Bader and Lee each added sacrifice flies in the same inning to push San Francisco back ahead by three. Schmitt followed with an RBI single in the fifth, and Rafael Devers delivered the decisive blow with a sixth-inning solo homer off Manaea, the first of his season, to set the final. Arraez, Chapman, and Devers each collected two hits.

Susac was the story San Francisco needed. The 24-year-old catcher had appeared as a defensive replacement in San Diego the night before without recording a plate appearance, stranded in the on-deck circle as Mason Miller closed out the Padres' win. His inclusion Thursday broke a streak in which the Giants had deployed the same nine-man lineup across their first six games, replacing starting catcher Patrick Bailey. The move paid off immediately. Susac singled in each of his first two major league at-bats and reached base four times total. He is the younger brother of former Giants catcher Andrew Susac, and the family name, it turns out, carries weight at Oracle Park. Manager Tony Vitello said afterward that the rookie "looked relaxed" and "like he was built for the moment," crediting composure that he said doesn't happen by accident.

Robbie Ray held up his end, working 5 1/3 innings and limiting the Mets to two runs on three hits while striking out seven. Ryan Walker closed out the sixth before the Giants handed the ball to Blade Tidwell, a right-hander called up to replace the injured José Buttó. Facing his former team, Tidwell threw three scoreless innings against a Mets lineup featuring Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, earning the first major league save of his career. The sequencing reflected a Giants staff that managed depth deliberately, using Ray's arm efficiently and leaning on a fresh arm in a high-leverage role.

For New York, the loss sharpened questions that have followed the Mets through the opening stretch. Peterson absorbed the full weight of the defeat, surrendering six runs and nine hits before leaving to drop to 0-1. The Mets' inability to manufacture offense against a Giants bullpen that mixed arms and matchups points to a lineup balance issue that three straight losses have made impossible to ignore.

Friday night brings Tyler Mahle against Nolan McLean at Oracle Park. The series will offer both clubs an early measure of whether Thursday's results reflect identity or aberration.