San Francisco Giants Patrick Bailey (right) is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (left) after hitting a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Park in New York on Fri May 24, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK. — The San Francisco Giants hit their third grand slam in a row to come from behind and defeat the New York Mets 8-7 on Friday night in the first of a three-game series at Citi Field.

It was the first time that the Giants have won three consecutive games after trailing by four or more runs each, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The game also lifted the Giants to .500 for the first time since being 2-2 on March 31, and put them on a trajectory they hope to continue upward.

“We came on this road trip, we were hoping to do something like that. Come home .500, a little bit better. You know we lose a really tough game to start in Pittsburgh which puts us back at three again which didn’t feel too terribly good,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin. “To win three in a row like that in the fashion we did, really good.”

In the first inning, Pete Alonso singled on a line drive to right fielder Mike Yastrzemski and Francisco Lindor scored, giving the Mets the first run of the game.

San Francisco answered back in the second inning as Jorge Soler hit a homer on a fly ball to center field to tie the game at 1-1.

In the third inning, Luis Matos grounded out and Marco Luciano scored, putting the Giants up 2-1.

But the Mets tied the game back up again in the fourth inning at 2-2 when Jeff McNeil singled on a line drive to center field and Mark Vientos scored. Then Tomás Nido went out on a sacrifice fly to left field and Starling Marte scored, putting the Mets up 3-2.

In the fifth inning, J.D. Martinez hit a home run on a fly ball to left center field, expanding the Mets’ lead to 4-2. Vientos followed up with a homer of his own on a fly ball to right center field to boost New York up 5-2.

The Mets had another homer in the seventh inning by Pete Alonso, who hit a fly ball to left field and the lead grew to 6-2.

But San Francisco put up a fight in the eighth inning. Thairo Estrada doubled on a sharp line drive to center field and Yastrzemski scored, cutting New York’s lead to 6-3. Then Patrick Bailey hit a grand slam to right center field, allowing LaMonte Wade Jr, Estrada and Matt Chapman to score and giving the Giants a 7-6 lead.

“I was just looking for something middle down that I could do some damage with and I put a good spin on it,” said Bailey of the grand slam.

San Francisco was not done there, as Yastrzemski in the ninth inning hit a home run on a fly ball to right field and expanded the lead to 8-6. Lindor singled on a sharp line drive to right field and D.J. Stewart scored, to cut San Francisco’s lead to 8-7.

The key moment happened with the tying run at third base. Vientos hit a slow chopper and Chapman threw the ball off balance to Wade Jr. at first base. Wade Jr. fell backward but had his foot on the bag. The play went under review but the call was upheld, giving the Giants the victory.

“I think it’s the most excited I’ve ever gotten after a play, just the situation, obviously, and how these last four games have been going, it’s just been crazy games,” said Chapman. “To have a walkoff play on defense like that with the bases loaded, game on the line, I think that’s probably the best one for sure. I kind of surprised myself a little bit there.”

Game two of the series at Citi Field is on Saturday with first pitch at 10:40 a.m. PT. Starting pitchers for the Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-1, 2.38) for the Mets RHP Luis Severino (2-2, ERA 3.48) for game 2 of the series.