NEW YORK _ Bruce Bochy stood at the doorstep of history, needing just one win to become the second manager in Giants history to record 1,000 victories with the franchise.
With help from some loud knocks by the Giants lineup in a six-run 10th inning, Bochy turned the knob and walked into an exclusive club after securing a 9-3 win over the Mets on Tuesday at Citi Field.
Bochy, 64, joined John McGraw (2,583 wins) as the only other manager to win 1,000 games with the Giants after catcher Stephen Vogt sparked a six-run rally with a go-ahead two-run double off reliever Robert Gsellman. Vogt's double came in his 23rd career game with the Giants, but Bochy's milestone win featured a start from a pitcher who has played a significant role in the manager's success.
Left-hander Madison Bumgarner has won 114 career games under Bochy, more than any other pitcher in the manager's career, but the starter took a no-decision after exiting with a 3-2 deficit. The win instead belonged to right-hander Mark Melancon, who has now won four games under Bochy and saved 14 other victories.
In his 25th year as a major league manager and 13th with the Giants, Bochy recorded the milestone win against the same team he debuted against as a catcher with the Houston Astros in 1978. Forty-one years after Bochy went 2-for-3 in his first career game at Shea Stadium, the manager celebrated another significant career achievement in New York as the Giants (25-34) earned their third straight victory.
Bochy is one of seven Giants managers to win 500 games with the team, four to hit the 800-victory threshold and now one of two credited with 1,000 wins.
After Vogt gave the Giants a two-run lead with a double off right-hander Robert Gsellman, Steven Duggar, Pablo Sandoval and Mike Yastrzemski added RBI hits that allowed Derek Holland to finish off the Mets with ease in the bottom of the 10th.
Three-plus years after Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard battled in an instant classic in the 2016 National League wild-card game at Citi Field, the duo matched up in front of 24,878 fans, a crowd that's barely half the size of the one that took in their playoff duel.
The Giants didn't score in the seven innings Syndergaard pitched in that 2016 game, but they took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning of Tuesday's series opener thanks to RBI singles from Kevin Pillar and Steven Duggar.
The Mets mustered just four hits against Bumgarner in his dominant shutout win that propelled the Giants to the National League Division series, but they did inflict damage against the Giants ace in this start.
After Bumgarner opened the night with five scoreless innings, he allowed a leadoff home run to Mets rookie phenom Pete Alonso in the bottom of the sixth. Later in the inning, Bumgarner gave up a go-ahead, two-run home run to catcher Wilson Ramos that turned a 2-1 Giants lead into a 3-2 deficit.
In the 62 regular season innings Bumgarner had thrown against the Mets prior to the sixth on Tuesday, he had allowed just two home runs to New York hitters. In a span of four batters, he surrendered two more.
Bumgarner exited in line for his sixth loss of the season, but the Giants rallied to tie the game against reliever Seth Lugo with two outs in the seventh.
With two outs and a runner on first, Mets manager Mickey Callaway stunned Syndergaard by walking to the mound and removing his starter. Syndergaard was visibly frustrated with the decision and the next hitter, Evan Longoria, singled into left field off Lugo.
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt delivered the game-tying hit with an RBI double over the head of right fielder Michael Conforto, but Longoria's bid to score the go-ahead run failed as the Mets executed a perfect relay.
The win could be the last milestone Bochy reaches in his managerial career, as the Giants would need to finish 49-54 over their final 103 games to help Bochy reach 2,000 career victories.
Bochy's 1,951 career wins rank 11th all-time among major league managers and he would need 58 more wins to surpass Leo Durocher and join the top 10.
