Add The New York Post on Google Playing at Citi Field on Friday was a team that had been dismantled at the trade deadline, clearly a shell of the postseason threat it aspired to be and a club that might not mind the losses mounting considering the draft implications.
That team faced the Mets, who have played their cleanest baseball in garbage time.
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The Giants sold at the trade deadline, batted a player named Turner Hill cleanup in the series opener and are still bottoming out, 10-19 since offloading every piece they could.
The 2026 Mets have been a similar and different team, respectively: a big-money bust that threw in the towel, wiped itself off but now is emerging as fresh-faced and competitive.
In a September matchup featuring two disappointments that are trending in opposite directions, the Mets used five home runs — two from Francisco Alvarez — and a gritty night from Nolan McLean to hold off the Giants, 10-6, in front of 29,377 who have been cheering for a team with more life since Aug. 3.
The Mets (64-77) are 13 games under .500 but 17-11 since unloading nearly the entirety of their bullpen plus Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta and Tyrone Taylor.
Each victory brings them a bit closer to possible offseason frustration: Their first-round draft pick would be docked 10 spots (as it was last year) unless they are bad enough and lucky enough to land a top-six selection.
David Stearns would argue each victory brings them closer to the team they want to be.
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) hits a solo home run during the eighth inning when the New York Mets played the San Francisco Giants on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for NY Post “I am encouraged by what we’ve seen,” the president of baseball operations said before the game. “We’ve seen continued progression from a lot of players who are going to be here next year and for many years beyond.
“And that is very encouraging for me and I think lifts the organization as a whole as we head into an offseason and ultimately construct our team for ’27.”
Somewhere in the front of their rotation next season will be McLean, who clearly has the stuff to be an ace but showed Friday that he can be effective without his top execution. The National League Rookie of the Year contender battled through six innings in which he somehow allowed two runs while letting up six hits and walking four.
He only managed two 1-2-3 innings — the second and sixth, the latter of which he punctuated with a fist-pump upon getting Christian Koss looking at strike three — and in each other frame he had to survive, the biggest struggle in the fifth.
New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean celebrates getting out of the sixth inning during a game against the San Francisco Giants on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post The Giants loaded the bases without an out, were a swing away from making a lopsided game interesting, but watched McLean strike out Jung Hoo Lee and induce a ground ball double play from Drew Cavanaugh on a play that Marcus Semien made a nice sliding grab and shovel pass to Francisco Lindor.
The Mets bullpen bent, notably when Rafael Devers clubbed a three-run home run against Austin Warren in the eighth.
But they had a cushion because the Mets’ attack racked up more home runs (five) than singles (four).
Mark Vientos — reminding that even in a season plagued by injury and inconsistency, he can still crush lefties — continued his strong work off the IL with a three-run shot against Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in the first inning.
Alvarez and Bo Bichette (No. 15) added a pair of dingers in the second to help capsize Wilkinson, who was done after three innings and seven runs allowed.
Lindor added a two-run shot (No. 16) in the sixth and Alvarez tacked on with his 15th of the year in the eighth.
