San Francisco Giants Alex Dickerson slides in past the New York Mets catcher Patrick Mazeika to score one of the two runs for the Giants in the top of the seventh inning at Citi Field in Flushing on Wed Aug 25, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK — The San Francisco Giants overcame a late lead by the New York Mets and held them off with the bases loaded in a high-stress ninth inning to win 3-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

After Mets starting pitcher Taijuan Walker retired his first 11 batters, Kris Bryant hit a home run to center field in the fourth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth inning, Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso reached on a throwing error by third baseman Bryant and Jonathan Villar scored, tying the game at 1-1.

Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto, who came off the injured list, threw back-to-back strikes to Brandon Nimmo but issued a seven-pitch walk that brought Alonso up to bat. Cueto exited after 4 2/3 innings and gave up five hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

“I know Alonso is a great hitter, what I wanted to do was either get a flyball or a grounder, which is what I got, but an error was committed and sometimes that happens,” Cueto said.

The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning when Dominic Smith doubled on a sharp line drive to right field and allowed Michael Conforto to score.

But the Giants made a comeback in the seventh inning. Brandon Crawford hit a two-run double on a sharp line drive to Conforto in right field, and Bryant and Alex Dickerson scored.

San Francisco’s 3-2 lead was threatened in the ninth inning when the Mets had the bases loaded. But left-handed pitcher Jake McGee induced a popup from Alonso that sealed the victory for the Giants.

“We’re not going to dwell on the fact we didn’t play our cleanest game,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “We’re going to appreciate the fact we won the baseball game on the road against a team that’s especially hungry and we’re going to turn the page and get ready to play tomorrow’s baseball game.”

The Giants improved to 82-44 and sit at the top of the NL West, three games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Francisco has the best overall winning percentage in the MLB at .651. Meanwhile, the Mets are battling for a spot in the playoffs.

First pitch for the third and last game of the series on Thursday is at 4:10 p.m. Giants left-handed pitcher Alex Wood (10-4, 4.11) will face Mets right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 8.82).