Rafael Devers did almost everything a cleanup hitter can do on a Friday night in Queens and still walked off the field on the wrong side of a slugfest.
He doubled twice, homered once, and drove in five runs as the San Francisco Giants fell 10-6 to the New York Mets at Citi Field. CBS Sports' box has Devers 3-for-4 with a run, five RBI, a walk, a strikeout, and his 33rd home run, lifting his line to .256/.338/.508 with 88 RBI.
The Associated Press, via CBS, noted that 33 homers are the most by a Giant since Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004.
It was not enough against a Mets lineup that went deep five times.
A three-run eighth and a deficit that never closed
Devers' production came in two waves. In the third, he ripped a two-run double that scored Tyler Gilbert and Christian Koss. In the eighth, he crushed a three-run homer with Casey Cox and Koss aboard, pulling San Francisco back into shouting distance after New York had built a multi-run cushion.
Between those swings, the Mets kept finding the seats. Francisco Alvarez hit two home runs. Mark Vientos, Bo Bichette, and Francisco Lindor also went deep, giving New York five long balls on the night, the AP reported. The Giants scratched across six runs and still left Citi Field looking up at a double-digit Mets total.
Pitching that never settled
Cam Wilkinson (0-3) lasted three innings and allowed seven runs, four earned. Nolan McLean (11-8) answered with six innings, two earned runs, seven strikeouts, and four walks on 105 pitches. CBS noted McLean is 9-4 with a 2.24 ERA over his last 17 starts - the kind of stretch that turns a middling Mets season into nights the visitors cannot climb out of.
Turner Hill added an RBI single for San Francisco, but the supporting cast never matched Devers' damage. The Giants finished the night at 58-84. The Mets moved to 64-77, still far from October but loud enough on a September Friday to bury a five-RBI evening.
What 33 homers means in a lost year
Devers' pace is the clearest individual bright spot in a San Francisco season that has drifted well under .500. Reaching 33 home runs with a month left puts him in rare franchise company for the post-Bonds era, and the five-RBI line Friday was his loudest single-game answer yet to the Mets' power display.
The clubs meet again Saturday. The AP has Joey Molina (2-0, 3.77 ERA) lined up for San Francisco against Trent Thornton (3-4, 2.93) for New York. Devers has already shown he can double, go deep, and clear the bases in the same box score; the question for the Giants is whether anyone else can keep pace when the other lineup hits five out.
Sources
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20260904_SF@NYM/
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401816803
