Bryant bashes 2 homers to top Mets

SAN FRANCISCO -- It hasn’t taken Kris Bryant long to endear himself to Giants fans.

The Giants’ star Trade Deadline acquisition continued to establish himself as a difference-maker, homering twice to help lift San Francisco to a 7-5 series-opening win over the Mets on Monday night at Oracle Park.

Bryant crushed a go-ahead, two-run blast to straightaway center field off Miguel Castro in the fifth and then teamed up with Brandon Belt to deliver back-to-back shots off Trevor May to punctuate the Giants’ three-run rally in the seventh.

It was Bryant’s 16th career multi-homer game and his first since joining the Giants, who obtained the versatile slugger from the Cubs in exchange for prospects Alexander Canario and Caleb Kilian last month. Bryant hasn’t disappointed in his first two weeks with his new club, batting .321 (18-for-56) with three homers, five doubles and eight RBIs in 15 games with San Francisco.

“He’s a former MVP winner, so he’s obviously a big piece of our team now,” Brandon Crawford said. “I think he showed that tonight by being able to hit a couple homers and play left field, play right field. With his versatility, his athleticism and his hitting ability, he’s a big piece for our team.”

The same can be said for Crawford, who continued his torrid stretch at the plate by going 4-for-4 with an RBI triple to boost his batting average to .427 (47-for-110) over 28 games since July 1. The 34-year-old shortstop is hitting .306 with a .918 OPS and 19 homers on the season, firmly entrenching himself as a 2021 National League MVP candidate. That view is certainly backed up by Giants fans, who broke out into “MVP! MVP!” chants after Crawford tripled off the right-field wall to extend his club’s lead to 7-3 in the seventh.

“He should be right in the conversation,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s just been good on both sides of the ball all year long. Very consistent, very dependable. Driving the ball, extra bases, singles, big moments. He’s come up huge for us time and time again. I’m biased since I see him every day, but I definitely think he belongs in this conversation.”

Tyler Rogers surrendered a two-run shot to Jonathan Villar that brought the Mets within two in the eighth, but Jake McGee worked a scoreless ninth to convert his 26th save and close out the win for the Giants. San Francisco has now won 16 of its last 21 games to improve to 77-42, the best record in baseball, and maintain a four-game lead over the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

The Giants’ relentless offense was already formidable prior to Bryant’s arrival, but his potent right-handed bat has only added more punch to a lineup that is currently leading the Majors with 179 home runs this season. Bryant’s versatility -- he’s seen time at third base and all three outfield spots since joining the Giants -- also gives Kapler more freedom to move pieces around and create more favorable matchups for his hitters on a nightly basis.

“The most obvious thing is it just lengthens [the lineup] even more,” Buster Posey said. “And then just his versatility to be able to play anywhere in the outfield and play third just gives Kap a lot of different options. I would imagine it makes it tough for the opposing team to have to navigate our lineup even more when you’ve got a guy as dynamic as he is.”

The Giants chased former Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill by stringing together five consecutive hits to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, but the Mets erased the deficit with a three-run fifth that was highlighted by Pete Alonso’s two-run triple off right-hander Kevin Gausman.

Still, the Giants delivered a counterpunch in the bottom half of the inning. Alex Dickerson came off the bench and smoked a double off the right-field wall to bring up Bryant, who hammered a 2-1 slider from Castro out to straightaway center field to put the Giants back in front, 4-3.

“The at-bats are always quality. You just don’t want to be the guy that doesn’t continue that," Bryant said.

"We’re not letting the starter steal strikes from the very first pitch. Right when the bell rings, we’re ready to go.”

The Giants continued to add on in the seventh, when Belt clubbed a pinch-hit homer on May’s second pitch of the night. Bryant then came on for the encore, sending a first-pitch slider from May halfway up the left-field bleachers to extend San Francisco’s lead to 6-3. Bryant’s 21st home run of the year drew thunderous roars from the Giants fans in attendance, further corroborating just how quickly the team's faithful have fallen for their newest star.

“Honestly I don’t give myself enough time to really appreciate that,” Bryant said. “I feel like in the moment, it’s all kind of numb running around the bases. But after the second one, obviously, back to back, it’s going to get the crowd going. I felt that one. I can’t thank them enough. They’ve embraced me with open arms. It’s really been a great time playing in front of them.”