Just over an hour before Sunday’s first pitch, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” blared through the Mets clubhouse.
Either it was meant as inspiration for a downtrodden club or a reminder of the last scene from “The Sopranos” when the song is heard before a fade to black.
The Mets avoided a further fade toward black on this day with a ninth-inning rally the bullpen didn’t have to protect.
Omar Narvaez stroked a walk-off RBI single that capped a three-run inning in the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Giants at Citi Field. Narvaez’s hit was his first at home this season, snapping an 0-for-27.
All still isn’t great for the Mets, with the NL West-leading Dodgers on deck for three games, but at least a losing streak that had reached five games was declared over.
Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez singled in succession against Tyler Rogers in the ninth to begin the winning rally.
After Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Harrison Bader’s double brought in two runs to tie it and Narvaez’s soft single won it.
After two straight bullpen meltdowns, the Mets received a solid relief outing from Adrian Houser, who allowed one earned run over four innings.
Sean Manaea was effective but failed to provide length in allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk over five innings with six strikeouts. It marked the 26th time in 52 games this season a Mets starter didn’t pitch beyond the fifth inning.
Tomas Nido’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt in the second gave the Giants a 1-0 lead. Matt Chapman, who doubled leading off the inning, was on third and took steps toward the plate on a pitch in the dirt. Nido overshot Brett Baty on a throw to third to bring in Chapman.
The Mets used Logan Webb’s error to help tie it 1-1 in the bottom of the inning. Wilmer Flores fielded DJ Stewart’s grounder and flipped just behind Webb covering first base. Webb mishandled the throw and Stewart raced to second on the play. Bader delivered with a two-out RBI single to tie it. Bader’s single snapped an 0-for-14 for the Mets with runners in scoring position over two games.
Brett Wisely homered leading off the third to put the Mets in a 2-1 hole. The blast was only the third allowed by Manaea this season.
Bader extended over the center-field fence to rob Chapman of a homer leading off the sixth against Houser. But the Giants still added to their lead in the inning: Flores doubled and, following Jorge Soler’s single, scored on Heliot Ramos’ fielder’s choice, extending the Giants’ lead to 3-1.