Vitello ejected as Giants fall apart in third straight loss to Mets

SAN FRANCISCO — Tony Vitello was showered and changed out of his No. 23 home jersey and cream baseball pants into athletic shorts and a hoodie by the time he faced reporters Sunday afternoon.

Vitello watched the final two innings of the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the Mets from his office after the rookie manager earned the first ejection of his major-league managerial career.

The Giants got seven strong innings from Logan Webb and timely hits from Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers but were dealt their third loss of the four-game set against New York.

They were leading 2-1 when crew chief David Rackley tossed him in the bottom of the seventh. Things began to fall apart the following inning as Keaton Winn served up hits to Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert, and Erik Miller allowed both inherited runners to score in a four-run frame.

“I saw blips of the last two innings,” Vitello said. “… It’s hard to watch on TV. I’m sure there’s plenty to criticize.”

Vitello was upset with the ruling from home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez that resulted in Jerar Encarnacion being called out on a dribbler in front of the plate, despite the Mets failing to complete the play. Jimenez said Encarnacion had left the base path, interfering with Mark Vientos’ ability to catch the throw from Huascar Brazoban.

“I said one last thing, just out of frustration or being all fired up that was complete nonsense,” Vitello said, adding that he was upset over another unidentified call earlier in the game. “I think it was misinterpreted a little bit.”

What it means

The Giants weren’t able to take advantage of Webb’s strongest start of the season and dropped three of four to the Mets. The loss was their third in a row, already the second time in 10 games that Vitello’s squad has strung together a losing streak of at least three games.

Through seven games at Oracle Park, the Giants are 1-6.

Who’s hot

Vitello, first of all. The manager had a history with SEC umpires, once earning a suspension for bumping chests during an argument on the field. He was upset by the call on Encarnacion, which prevented the Giants from getting a runner on with one out, but his temper didn’t seem to escalate until Rackley tossed him as he was heading back to the dugout with his back turned.

The ejection came moments after Webb departed the mound for the last time, limiting the Mets to one run, a ton of ground balls and little hard contact over seven innings.

Webb entered the game with a 7.36 ERA through his first two starts, but had everything working against the Mets. The Giants couldn’t capitalize and fell to 1-2 with their ace on the mound.

Tony Vitello ejected by crew chief Dave Rackley for arguing call that Jerar Encarnacion was out of the base path.

🎥 Vitello’s first MLB ejection. pic.twitter.com/JOBkT6q65g

— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) April 5, 2026

Who’s not

Miller surrendered multiple runs for the second outing in a row. The hard-throwing lefty looked to be vying for some save opportunities as Vitello goes closer-by-committee, but he may have lost some confidence after the Mets tagged him for four runs in two appearances this series.

The Giants also committed multiple errors for the second time in 10 games, bringing their total to eight, more than all but three other clubs.

Devers wasn’t able to pick a low throw from Chapman after an acrobatic stop in the Mets’ big eighth inning, and Patrick Bailey was charged with a critical catcher’s interference that brought up Francisco Lindor with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh.

Chapman also made an inexcusable mistake on the bases, getting caught stealing as the second out of the ninth inning with the Giants trailing by three runs.

“All three (losses to the Mets) kind of had similar things going on,” Vitello said. “There was either defensive mistakes, guys not running the bases hard enough or smart enough … (and) not good enough on the pitching end of things on a couple of occasions.”

Up next

The Phillies visit San Francisco as the Giants wrap up a seven-game home stand. RHP Adrian Houser (0-1, 1.69) gets the ball against RHP Andrew Painter (1-0, 1.69) to open the three-game set with first pitch on Monday set for 6:45 p.m.

The loss dropped the Giants to 1-7 in their last eight games against the Mets at Oracle Park. The good news is they’ve fared much better against the Phillies, who haven’t taken a series in San Francisco since 2013. At home, the Giants are 12-3 against the Phillies dating back to 2021.

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