Mets pitchers silence Giants, drop San Francisco to second in NL West

SAN FRANCISCO - Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia combined on a three-hitter and Yoenis Cespedes homered off Jeff Samardzija, leading the New York Mets to a 2-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night.

Cespedes homered for the third time in two days to help split the four-game series. He came off the disabled list Frida, hit two home runs in Saturday’s win and added the game-winner Sunday night.

It was also the 900th victory of manager Terry Collins’ career, making him the 10th active manager to reach the milestone.

Syndergaard (11-7) allowed two hits over eight innings for his second consecutive win following a six-start skid. It was Syndergaard’s 20th career victory in 49 games and his first back-to-back pitching victories since June.

Samardzija (10-9) held the Mets hitless until Curtis Granderson’s leadoff double in the seventh. Cespedes followed with his 25th home run, a towering two-run blast that appeared to clear the stands in left field.

Familia retired three batters for his major league-leading 41st save.

The Giants dropped to second in the NL West after entering the day with a half-game lead on the Dodgers. Los Angeles beat Cincinnati earlier Sunday.

Samardzija remained winless in four career starts against the Mets despite taking a no-hitter into the seventh. Samardzija allowed only three hits and two runs over seven innings and struck out seven.

Samardzija had an 11.40 ERA in three career starts against the Mets. That was, according to ESPN.com, the worst earned run average of any of the 152 pitchers to make at least three starts against the Mets since 2009, when Samardzija made his first career start while with the Chicago Cubs.

The pitcher’s duel between Syndergaard and Samardzija was in stark contrast to the first three games of this series, when the teams combined for 40 runs. Only two runners from either team reached second base Sunday, and both scored.

San Francisco’s first two baserunners were thrown out trying to steal second. Mets catcher Rene Rivera caught Trevor Brown in the third and Eduardo Nunez in the fourth. Before that, opponents had successfully stolen 40 bases in 44 attempts against New York with Syndergaard on the mound.

The Giants also made two sparkling defensive plays. Brandon Crawford made a diving stop on Jose Reyes’ sharp liner in the first inning, then second baseman Joe Panik robbed Reyes of an infield single with two outs in the sixth when he fielded a slow grounder and flipped it to first base with his glove.

NOTES

Mets third base coach Tim Teufel had to react quickly to avoid being hit by a line drive from left-handed hitting James Loney in the fifth. The ball narrowly missed Teufel as he dropped to the grass on his back.

Mets outfielder Jay Bruce was back in the lineup after being held out Saturday to rest.

Buster Posey did not start for the Giants but had a pinch-hit single in the ninth.

Outfielder Angel Pagan, who left Saturday’s game early, was kept out of the lineup with tightness in his groin.

The win kept the Mets 4½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second National League wild-card spot, with some projections giving them less than a 10-percent chance of sneaking into the postseason.

The Giants are off today and will begin an NL West showdown series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles starting on Tuesday. Madison Bumgarner, scheduled to start the series opener for the Giants, is winless in two previous starts against the Dodgers this season.