Game Wrap 7/27/2025: Mets 5 Giants 3

Matt Chapman's two home runs were not enough to carry a struggling lineup and, in my opinion, a less than well-managed bullpen game by Bob Melvin.  Key Lines: 

Willy Adames SS- 2 for 5, R.  BA= .233.  One of Adames' singles came with 2 outs and ahead of Chapman's second HR.  He also made a tremendous throw from deep in the hole to rob a hitter of an infield hit.

Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 5, 2 HR(16), 2 R, 3 RBI.  BA= .243.  Chapman was pretty much the offense for a struggling lineup.  Chapman is batting .370 with 4 HR over his last 7 games.

Matt Gage LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.  Wow!  Matt Gage went on a long journey and came back a lights-out lefty reliever.  Gage was the opener and looked sensational against three really good hitters and he threw just 10 pitches.  Now I know the top 3 hitters were L, S, L and the next 3 batters were R, L, R but if you know you are likely to be scrambling for innings later in the game why not try to get another inning out of a hot, well-rested pitcher?  

Spencer Bivens RHP- 3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, 5/0 GO/AO.  ERA= 4.58.  I guess the plan for Bivens this season is to pitch him until his arm falls off.  Bivens gave 3 nice innings of work. I couldn't believe it when he came out for the 5'th inning(his 4'th inning).  If there is one pitcher who BoMel has overused it's Bivens.  Bivens predictably gave up B2B doubles to open the 5'th inning and BoMel not only didn't get any more outs out of him but he gave up a run in the process.  On the live broadcast interview from the dugout, BoMel said the plan was to get 60 pitches out of Bivens.  He started the inning at 53.  Maybe if he had let Gage try to eat some outs in the first inning he wouldn't have felt like he had to squeeze those last 7 pitches out of Bivens?

Randy Rodriguez RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.20.  Can't fault BoMel here.  Rodriguez has been solid all season.  Just had an off appearance.

Tristan Beck RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 4.91.  The plan was for Beck to pitch just one inning?  Another head scratcher.  

Sean Hjelle RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 7.80.  I've been a huge advocate for Sean Hjelle but even I have seen enough of him.  He might be dealing with some off-field issues that are distracting him too.  Next?!

The Giants announced that Carson Whisenhunt LHP is getting called up to make his first MLB start tomorrow night facing the Pirates and Mitch Keller RHP who has some buzz as a possible trade deadline target for multiple teams.