SAN FRANCISCO _ Nothing seems to make sense in the San Francisco Giants' second half so far, so perhaps it's par for the course that an anticipated sizzling pitching duel between Madison Bumgarner and the Mets' Jacob deGrom Thursday would turn into an almost ridiculous hit parade for both struggling teams.
Bumgarner surrendered a grand slam_his first-ever at AT&T Park_but also hit a two-run homer of his own to erase a 4-0 hole he created for himself.
DeGrom, meanwhile, gave up 13 hits and had the worst two innings of his career after being staked to that four-run cushion.
Neither pitcher made it into the sixth inning, and the game became a battle of the bat racks and bullpens.
Ultimately, the Giants banged out 17 of the 30 hits in the game and snapped their four-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory, and it got them back within a half-game of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost at Philadelphia earlier in the evening.
Bumgarner (12-7) got a victory despite one of shortest, shakiest outings of the season.
The first three innings played to form. Bumgarner allowed a hit and a walk and looked very much on his game.
DeGrom was shakier, allowing the leadoff man to get on in each inning but worked out of trouble in all three.
Then it got crazy. The Mets loaded the bases in the top of the fourth on a T.J. Rivera single and one-out walks to Wilmer Flores and Travis d'Arnaud. Bumgarner subsequently thought he had Justin Ruggiano struck out but didn't get the call from home plate umpire Brian Gorman. The count went to 3-2, and Bumgarner had to come in with a fastball. Ruggiano promptly sent it out over the center field fence to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
Behind deGrom, who was 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA against the Giants coming into this series, the Mets appeared to have the game well in hand at that point. But San Francisco not only got back in the game, they took the lead in the bottom half of the inning with five runs against the young Mets right-hander.
Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence connected for consecutive singles to bring home the first run, then Eduardo Nunez_previously 1 for 20 with runners in scoring position as a Giant _ tripled.
But the best was yet to come.
After Joe Panik struck out, up stepped Bumgarner. The pitcher fell behind in the count 0-2, but kept battling. He fouled off a couple of pitches and worked the count to 2-2. Finally, on the seventh pitch, he found a pitch in his zone and didn't miss it, cranking his third home run into the left field seats to put the Giants back up 5-4.
Bumgarner had been 0 for 17 with runners in scoring position for the season.
The Giants continued to pour it on against deGrom in the fifth. With two outs, Crawford, Pence and Nunez singled in succession to make it 6-4, then Panik doubled down the left field line for two more.
DeGrom finished the inning, but that proved to be it. He had allowed career highs in hits (13) and earned runs (8) and suddenly the Mets looked cooked.
But no.
New York staged a three-run rally against Cory Gearrin and Will Smith in the top of the sixth. D'Arnaud and Ruggiano opened with singles, and after Gearrin retired Kelly Johnson on a fly to center, Smith entered and promptly served up a triple to left-center to Ty Kelly. Kelly subsequently scored on a groundout to cut the lead to one.
The Mets loaded the bases again in the seventh, but reliever Derek Law managed to get of his own jam. After Smith struck out Jay Bruce to start the inning, Law gave up singles to Flores and d'Arnaud. He struck out Ruggiano but walked Johnson to load the bases, then retired Kelly on a slow grounder to second base.
Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo combined to pitch a 1-2-3 eighth, only the second frame in the game by either team in which no one reached base. Bumgarner retired the side in order in the top of the first.
