Clay Holmes’ seven-inning statement, Mets’ notable offensive breakouts highlight Saturday’s 9-0 rout of Giants

The Mets won consecutive games for the first time since the team’s season-opening victories March 26 and 28 at the Pittsburgh Pirates, taking a 2-1 lead in this weekend’s four-game series at the San Francisco Giants with Saturday’s 9-0 rout.

Takeaways

1. Clay Holmes went a career-high-tying seven innings, matching the length of his June 1, 2025, start at the Colorado Rockies but delivering a better performance. He was solid in his first start of the 2026 campaign, last Monday’s 4-2 win at the St. Louis Cardinals, and built on his season-opening start with arguably his best outing as a Met. He picked up where Nolan McLean left off from Friday’s 10-3 win, allowing three hits while striking out four and walking two in seven scoreless innings. Holmes was not perfect, putting the leadoff runners on in the second and third innings before issuing a two-out walk to avoid a 1-2-3 fourth, but he kept the Giants (3-6) stranded across those frames while the Mets (5-4) held a 3-0 lead before entering his zone and getting stronger as the game progressed. Holmes (2-0, 1.42 ERA) threw 61 strikes on 90 pitches before Tobias Myers took the ball for the bullpen in the eighth and ninth innings.

2. Bo Bichette is improving. After owning his “terrible” at-bats from the Mets’ opening weekend last Sunday, he has looked more like himself with five hits in the past two games. Bichette followed Friday’s 3-for-5 breakthrough with Saturday’s 2-for-5 encore, driving in a run for the third straight game with a fifth-inning single to shallow center field that padded the Mets’ 4-0 lead and sparked a five-run frame. After a 2-for-22 stretch across five appearance in March, April has been a breath of fresh air for Bichette, who is 7 for 19 with three RBI through four games.

3. Mark Vientos is also trending up. His hit streak is up to four games, following Friday’s 2-for-3 step in the right direction with a 3-for-5 breakthrough. Batting fifth and starting at first base, Vientos continued Bichette’s fifth-inning momentum with an RBI single to right field that scored Bichette and extended the Mets’ 5-0 lead. With or without Juan Soto, whose day-to-day status remains to be seen entering Sunday and beyond, the Mets need their big bats to step up. They got that Friday and Saturday in Bichette and Vientos, the latter of whom is 7 for 14 through four April games.

4. Tyrone Taylor, who replaced Soto in Friday’s game, came off the bench as a pinch-hit substitution for sixth-batting left fielder Jared Young and blew the game open for the Mets. Taylor’s 2-for-3 night featured a three-run homer in the fifth inning that exploded the Mets’ 8-0 advantage. He added to his damage with an RBI single in the seventh inning that scored Brett Baty and polished off the Mets’ 9-0 final. After an 0-for-4 Friday, Taylor filled Soto’s void and then some as the Mets turned a 5-0 win into a 9-0 rout.

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Who’s the MVP?

Holmes, who retired seven straight from the fifth inning into the seventh and left no doubt on the mound as the Mets piled runs against the Giants.

Highlights