NEW YORK _ The odds are unkind that the Giants will overcome their historically awful start. Teams with a .353 winning percentage in May seldom feel the flush of pennant fever.
But sitting down to take in a ballgame, the standings aside, brings its own simple pleasure. And you'd like to retain hope in the local nine all the way to the last out.
The Giants finished an unsuccessful road trip with a long-awaited glimmer of hope Wednesday afternoon. They came back from a one-run deficit in the ninth inning, Christian Arroyo shouted and flexed after hitting a three-run double and the Giants pulled out a 6-5 victory over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Even the league's best teams will win just a handful of games in which they trail after eight innings. But when you haven't done it in two years, it is a monumental feat.
The Giants, amazingly, hadn't done it in exactly two years. They had lost 133 consecutive games in which they trailed entering the ninth, dating to a comeback on May 10, 2015, against the Miami Marlins.
They celebrated the two-year anniversary by embracing hope again. Joe Panik drew a one-out walk from Mets closer Jeurys Familia, and the door flung open when Mets third baseman Wilmer Flores fumbled Eduardo Nunez's sharp ground ball before throwing high to second base for an error. Hunter Pence followed with a slashing single that tied it.
Buster Posey drew a walk to load the bases, and Arroyo split the gap with his drive to left-center.
Arroyo, 21, was playing at Single-A San Jose the last time the Giants had a game like this.
The bottom of the ninth was not a smooth journey. Derek Law, subbing for injured closer Mark Melancon, gave up two runs when center fielder Justin Ruggiano couldn't catch Wilmer Flores' two-out double at the wall. But Kevin Plawecki tapped out to Posey in front of the plate to end it.
The victory took some of the sting out of a three-city trip to Dodger Stadium, the banks of the Ohio River and Flushing Meadows in which they lost six of nine games to the Dodgers, Reds and Mets.
Their 12-23 record still leaves them buried in the NL West, even if it's no longer the worst in the majors.
Some more good news: Posey hit a home run for a third consecutive game, giving him five this season. Some less good news: That brief surge was all it took for Posey to claim the team lead.
Meanwhile, Jay Bruce, an outfielder the Mets desperately tried to trade this past winter, hammered his 10th home run of the season. And a pitcher the Mets plucked off waivers three days earlier, left-hander Tommy Milone, pitched well enough to win in his debut.
Two early mistakes stood out, and it wasn't the pitch from Matt Cain that Bruce blasted over the fence in right-center.
It was a leadoff walk to Jose Reyes, the first batter Cain faced. Bases on balls burned the Giants the entire trip _ the opposition scored 16 runs after reaching via walk _ and this one was no different. Curtis Granderson beefed up his .136 average with an RBI double.
Posey and Bruce traded home runs before the Mets added an unearned run in the fourth inning. Granderson reached when Buster Posey fumbled a grounder at first base, and scored when Milone coaxed a two-out hit.
Two-out RBI hits by the opposing pitcher? Leadoff walks? Fielding errors? Sure, winning teams are not immune to these kinds of mistakes from time to time. But they often find a way to outhit them.
Not so for the Giants. Until the ninth inning Wednesday.
