Mets look for spark from sluggish offense in series opener vs. Giants

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants each underwent offseason overhauls.

One week into the season, they're still waiting to see the dividends.

The Mets and Giants each will look to snap out of their early struggles on Thursday night when they meet in the opener of a four-game series in San Francisco.

David Peterson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Robbie Ray (0-1, 3.38) in a battle of left-handers.

Both teams suffered road defeats on Wednesday. The Mets fell 2-1 in 11 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game series, while the Giants missed a chance to complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with a 7-1 loss.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns jettisoned longtime regulars Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo over the winter in hopes of bringing more balance and clutch hitting to what was an all-or-nothing lineup last year.

But the Mets' offensive struggles continued Wednesday, when they were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. In its past five games, New York has just 12 runs and is batting .113 (6-for-53) with runners in scoring position.

The Mets ran themselves out of a potential big sixth inning for the second straight game Wednesday when Francisco Lindor was picked off first base two pitches before Juan Soto homered to snap a scoreless tie. In Tuesday night's 3-0 loss to St. Louis, Bo Bichette was doubled up on Jared Young's liner with New York trailing 2-0.

New arrivals Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr. and rookie Carson Benge are batting a combined .173 (18-for-104) for the Mets.

"They're good hitters, and right now, for the last couple of games, we haven't gotten it done," manager Carlos Mendoza said.

Following an 81-81 finish last year, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey fired manager Bob Melvin and replaced him with Tennessee coach Tony Vitello.

Vitello is the first skipper ever to move directly from college to the big leagues without any coaching experience in the pros.

Vitello's tenure began with San Francisco scoring just one run while being swept by the Yankees in a three-game series. The Giants totaled four hits while being blanked in the first two games of the series -- the fewest hits in the first two games of a season in the 144-year history of the franchise as well as the first time they've begun a campaign with consecutive shutout defeats.

The Giants earned consecutive wins over the San Diego Padres before being limited to four hits while committing a pair of costly errors Wednesday.

Jackson Merrill scored from first base in the first inning, when first baseman Casey Schmitt was charged with an error after he couldn't corral third baseman Matt Chapman's throw on Manny Machado's grounder. Chapman received the error in the fifth, when he fielded a grounder by Xander Bogaerts before his throw clipped off Schmitt's glove, which allowed Gavin Sheets to score from third.

Cameras captured Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove winner, telling Schmitt to "... catch the (expletive) ball" following the second miscue.

"He was upset," Vitello said, referring to Chapman. "I think there was frustration from everybody throughout the day."

Peterson didn't factor into the decision in his season debut on Saturday, when he tossed 5 1/3 scoreless frames in the Mets' 4-2, 11-inning win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ray took the loss in his debut last Friday after giving up two runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-0 setback to the Yankees.

Peterson is 2-1 with a 4.33 ERA in five career starts against the Giants, while Ray is 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA in nine starts against the Mets.

--Field Level Media