Giants 3, Mets 0
SAN FRANCISCO -- Right fielder Hunter Pence returned from the disabled list with a splash Tuesday night, contributing two RBIs and a highlight-reel defensive play to help the San Francisco Giants to a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets.
Right-hander Matt Cain, in just his second start following a lengthy DL stint of his own, shut out the Mets on two hits over six innings and combined with four relievers on a four-hitter as the Giants ended a seven-game losing streak.
Left fielder Gregor Blanco had three hits and All-Star second baseman Joe Panik chipped in with two hits and two runs, helping the Giants rough up Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon while ending New York's modest two-game winning streak.
After having missed the Giants' last 30 games because of tendinitis in his left wrist, Pence was thrust immediately into right field and the heart of the batting order after being reinstated from the DL only an hour or so before the game.
Pence drove in the Giants' first run with a fielder's choice grounder in the third inning and knocked in their third run with a two-out, RBI single to right field in the fifth, giving him 15 RBIs in the 19 games he's played this season.
The 2014 All-Star also missed the first 36 games of the season with a broken left arm suffered in spring training.
Pence's biggest crowd-pleasing moment occurred in the field following Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson's inning-opening triple in the sixth.
Shortstop Ruben Tejada then lifted a flyball toward the Mets' bullpen down the right-field line. Pence raced over, made a sliding catch, quickly got back on his feet and gunned down Granderson trying to score.
One out later, Cain (1-1) was done, having thrown 95 pitches in six innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
The effort was a marked improvement over the veteran's first start of the season last Thursday in Miami, when he gave up five runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings.
Cain had missed the Giants' first 79 games after straining the flexor tendon in his right arm in spring training.
After right-hander George Kontos pitched a scoreless seventh inning, the Mets were able to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the eighth after righty Hunter Strickland gave up a double to catcher Kevin Plawecki and a two-out walk to Tejada.
Left-hander Josh Osich relieved Strickland at that point and needed just one pitch to get third baseman Daniel Murphy to ground out, ending the threat.
Giants closer Santiago Casilla overcame an inning-opening walk in the ninth to complete the shutout and earn his 21st save.
Colon (9-7) surrendered all three Giants runs -- just two of which were earned -- in six innings, giving up 10 hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Mets pitchers had recorded shutouts in their previous two games, including Monday's 3-0 win against the Giants in the series opener. Their scoreless string reached 21 innings before the Giants' two-run third.
All four of the Mets' hits went for extra bases. Plawecki had two of them, a pair of doubles.
The Mets' sloppiness in the field finally cost them in the third inning, when their second error of the game helped the Giants score twice to go up 2-0.
Blanco and Panik led off the inning with singles. Colon then induced two grounders to third base and a fly to left field, yet the Giants turned the three batted balls into two runs.
Third baseman Murphy booted the first of the two grounders hit his way, loading the bases. He then fielded the second one cleanly, but opted to throw to second base for a force out while Blanco raced home with the game's first run.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford followed with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Panik with an unearned run.
Pence's RBI single made it 3-0 in the fifth.
NOTES: After watching him take pregame batting practice, the Giants activated RF Hunter Pence (left wrist tendinitis) from the 15-day disabled list about an hour before game time. The 2014 All-Star missed the previous 30 games. ... The Giants optioned OF Ryan Lollis to Triple-A Sacramento to create a roster spot for Pence. ... Immediately following the completion of his 80-day, PED-related suspension, Mets RHP Jenrry Mejia was reinstated from the suspended list. RHP Logan Verrett, who recorded his first career save Sunday in Los Angeles, was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to create a spot on the 25-man active roster for Mejia ... The Mets transferred RHP Buddy Carlyle (back spasms) from the 15- to the 60-day DL so that Mejia could be added to their 40-man roster. ... Mets OF/1B Michael Cuddyer, who had two hits Monday in the Mets' 3-0 win, was held out of the starting lineup Tuesday because of a sore left knee.