NEW YORK -- The intriguing pitching matchups in this series have thus far not lived up to the hype, but Carlos Rodón continues to exceed it.
Rodón watched the Giants break through offensively in the top of the first inning and then walked out to the mound and completely overwhelmed the New York Mets, striking out eight in a 5-2 win.
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The strikeout total was actually a season-low for Rodón, who has 29 of them through his first three starts, the second-most ever to start a season by a Giants pitcher. Only Hall-of-Famer Christy Mathewson (30 in his first three starts in 1908) had more. Rodón holds the franchise record for most strikeouts in his first three starts with the team.
The Mets briefly rallied in the seventh, but Starling Marte took off for second with runners on the corners and Francisco Lindor at the plate. It was a curious decision, and Joey Bart made him pay with a perfect throw down to second that ended the inning.
Three straight singles off Tyler Rogers in the eighth brought Citi Field back to life, but Wilmer Flores made a leaping grab of Dominic Smith's two-out liner to third that would have made it a one-run game.
Steal Of The Offseason
Rodón ran into some trouble in the fourth when Pete Alonso lined a single and Eduardo Escobar drew a 10-pitch walk, but he simply reached back for his best stuff. Mark Canha went down looking and J.D. Davis swinging, ending the inning and stranding both runners. Rodón struck the two out on six pitches, with both finishing pitches being 97.4 mph fastballs.
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He went heavy on the fastball, throwing it on 77 of his 95 pitches. The Mets had no chance, mustering just three hits and two walks in Rodón's five innings. Through three starts with the Giants, he has allowed just two runs on eight hits.
Just Fine With Meeting The Mets
New York entered this series with the hottest rotation in the big leagues, and Max Scherzer certainly had his way with the Giants on Tuesday night. But the lineup did fare pretty well against two other right-handers who had been throwing very well.
The Giants scored three runs off Chris Bassitt in the first inning, getting three singles, a double and a walk. Joc Pederson, Brandon Crawford and Flores drove in the runs. They added two more before Bassitt's day was gone, handing him by far his worst start of the young season. The former Oakland A's All-Star had allowed just one run on five hits in his first two starts for the Mets.
In the first game of the series, the lineup had a balanced attack in scoring four runs off Tylor Megill, who entered the day with a 0.00 ERA. Another tough test is coming up in the series finale; veteran Carlos Carrasco has allowed just one run on five hits in his first two starts of the season.
Birthday Bash
Brandon Belt entered this trip with zero hits in 17 career at-bats against the Cleveland Indians, but he got to them in a big way in Saturday's win. On Wednesday, Belt ended his 0-for on his birthday. The Captain is clearing all his debts, apparently.
Belt had been hitless in 18 career at-bats on his birthday, and he popped up in the first inning. But in the second, the 34-year-old hit a moonshot into the second deck in right for his fourth homer of the season. On his seventh career birthday start, Belt was 1-for-3 with a walk.