Scott and the Mets Look to Salvage Pride as Giants Roll Into New York for a Series Opener Nobody Circled in April
There's no postseason math left to explain on this one. The Mets and Giants meet Friday night with the win column doing more damage to their respective 2026 obituaries than their playoff hopes, but Game 1 of this three-game set still matters in the way September baseball always matters: for the players fighting for jobs, for the fans still showing up, and for anyone building a lineup around the pockets of production still worth watching on a lost season.
New York enters at 62-77, outscored on the year by a run differential of minus-56 (4.1 runs scored per game against 4.5 allowed), while San Francisco sits a game further underwater at 57-81 with a minus-64 differential. Neither club is playing for anything resembling October baseball. What they're playing for now is finishing strong, auditioning arms and bats for 2027, and in the Mets' case, trying to string together consecutive wins for the first time in a while. New York's last five games have been a coin flip in the truest sense — a loss to Tampa Bay, a win over Tampa Bay, a loss to Houston, a win over Houston, a loss to Houston. That's a team that can't find any rhythm, good or bad. San Francisco's recent form is just as scattered: a heartbreaking 12-13 loss to Pittsburgh, back-to-back wins over Atlanta and Arizona, then two more losses to close out that Arizona series. Two teams stuck in neutral, both looking for anything resembling momentum before the calendar turns.
The pitching matchup favors the home team on paper. Christian Scott takes the ball for the Mets with a 3.803 ERA, a number that's held up well in a lost season and gives New York a legitimate chance to steal Game 1 regardless of what's happening in the standings. San Francisco counters with Matt Wilkinson, whose 4.629 ERA suggests a more hittable look for a Mets lineup that could use a confidence-building night at the plate. If Scott's command holds, this could be a low-scoring, quietly well-pitched affair that neither fan base will remember by October — but the kind of start that keeps a young arm's trajectory pointing the right direction into next season.
Both rosters are dealing with significant attrition, and it shows. The Mets are without Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez — practically half of a projected everyday lineup — all sidelined, along with Jorge Polanco on the 60-day list. Reed Garrett, Justin Hagenman, Tylor Megill and Devin Williams are all down for extended stretches on the pitching side as well. It's a M.A.S.H. unit in New York right now, and it's part of why the record reads the way it does. San Francisco isn't faring much better: Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Casey Schmitt and Harrison Bader are all out, alongside further absences for Marcelo Mayer, Jesus Rodriguez, Adrian Houser and multiple relievers. Both lineups will look different than they did in the spring, and that context matters for anyone trying to read too much into this series based on names alone.
Amid all that shuffling, a few players are still producing. Rafael Devers has been the best hitter on either roster over the last week, posting 36, 34 and 16.5 fantasy points in his last three outings — numbers that dwarf his season average of 13.7 and suggest he's rounding into form at exactly the wrong time for a team with nothing left to play for. Bryce Eldridge has quietly heated up as well, with a 33.5-point night mixed into his last three games. Jung Hoo Lee has been a picture of consistency, hovering between 10 and 11.5 points in each of his last three. For the Mets, Bo Bichette has looked far more dangerous than his 12.6 season average, with an 11-point and 16-point game sandwiched around a quieter 4.5-point showing. Brett Baty, by contrast, has been ice cold — back-to-back scoreless nights before a modest 9.5-point bounce-back. There are no fantasy projections available for this one, so there's no start/fade case to make here — just recent form worth watching as both lineups try to find something to build on.
This is Game 1 of a three-game series that won't move any needles in the standings, but it will shape how both organizations exit 2026. Scott's edge on the mound and New York's need to protect its home turf should be enough to get it done in a game that likely stays close into the middle innings before the Mets' bullpen — thin as it is — finds a way to hold on.
Prediction: Mets 5, Giants 3.
