SAN FRANCISCO — For two days in Atlanta, it seemed like the Giants had finally broken through at the plate. Back at Oracle Park, it has been clear that wasn’t the case. 

A night after losing 8-1, the Giants fell 2-1 in a tense game with the New York Mets, who will go for the sweep on Sunday Night Baseball when Kodai Senga takes on the Giants’ bullpen.  

It was a night of missed opportunities for both lineups, but the Giants scratched across a run in the fourth when Jung Hoo Lee grounded out with the bases loaded. It stayed a one-run game until the top of the sixth, when Mark Vientos ripped a double down the left field line with two in scoring position. 

The Giants have struggled against left-handed starters all season, and they went down in order in the seventh and eighth once David Peterson was removed. That put the lead in the hands of All-Star Edwin Diaz, and Lee nearly provided a thrilling moment with one out. He scorched a liner off the bricks that would have been a game-tying homer in 29 ballparks, but at Oracle Park it was just a double. 

Patrick Bailey thought he tied it with two outs, but his 106 mph liner found Pete Alonso’s glove. 

Getting Tested

Rafael Devers made his third career start at first base, and unlike the previous two, this one was full of tests.

The longtime third baseman and DH helped load the bases in the fourth when he charged too hard on a slow roller and failed to get back to first in time to take the throw from Robbie Ray, but he made up for it a few minutes later by scooping a low throw from Matt Chapman to complete an inning-ending double play. 

In the fifth, Devers fielded a grounder by, well, rolling it to the bag. Whatever works, right? 

The first really costly mistake came in the sixth, when the Mets put two on ahead of Brett Baty, who hit a chopper to first. Devers pivoted to throw down to second for the force, but he bobbled the ball and instead took the sure out at first. That put two in scoring position instead of one, and they both scored on a double. 

An inning later, Devers made an error on a grounder, but that was followed by an inning-ending double play. 

Devers will start at DH on Sunday, but in general, the Giants feel good about his work at a new position and plan to get him plenty of starts at first base. Before the game, manager Bob Melvin said Devers has had a blast being back on the dirt, and that’s a big part of the push to get him comfortable at first. 

Ray Day

It’s been a brutal week for the Giants’ rotation, but there are no concerns with Ray, who made his second start since appearing on his second All-Star team. 

Ray gave up plenty of hard contact early and had just two clean innings out of six, but he was able to reach back for strikeouts when he needed them and allowed two runs in 5 2/3 frames. Both came on the double on Ray’s 102nd pitch. 

Look At Lucchesi

Lefty Joey Lucchesi spent four seasons with the Mets, although injuries limited him to just 22 appearances. The Giants brought him in this spring as a non-roster invitee, but the results didn’t open any eyes in March. Since getting called up last month, though, the veteran has filled a huge hole. 

Lucchesi lowered his ERA to 1.80 by working around the error in the seventh, and it doesn’t seem to be that flukey. He has a 1.22 FIP and 2.02 expected ERA. 

The Giants expect Erik Miller back in a few weeks, but Lucchesi has done a nice job of filling in, and left-handed relief isn’t as glaring a need as it appeared to be when Miller went down. Fellow veteran Matt Gage has also pitched well for his new team. 

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