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Wheeler strong as Mets sweep Giants

Jul 11, 2013 - 1:34 AM San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Zack Wheeler hasn't had much success since his first career start, but found a whole lot of it on Wednesday against the team that drafted him.

Wheeler turned in one of his best performances as a major leaguer and the New York Mets finished off a three-game sweep of the struggling defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants with a 7-1 victory at AT&T Park.

John Buck, Marlon Byrd and Daniel Murphy each knocked in a pair to highlight a second offensive surge for New York in as many days, and sent Giants ace Matt Cain (5-6) to the showers before the first inning was over.

Wheeler (3-1) was the Giants' sixth pick overall in the 2009 draft and blanked his former club for six frames. When it was all said and done, the young rookie scattered one run on three hits to complete a seven-inning stint.

"It felt good, I was really looking forward to it," said Wheeler about facing the Giants. "I told the guys earlier I really wanted to do well."

The Giants traded Wheeler to acquire outfielder Carlos Beltran in 2011, who they would lose to the St. Louis Cardinals via free agency in the following offseason.

San Francisco has plummeted to 40-50 on the campaign, losers of four straight and a remarkable 14 of their last 16 games.

"That will to win, believe me -- its there," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "Sometimes this happens when you get in a rut like this, you kind of stand back and wait for somebody else to do something. We've got to take the bull by the horns and get this thing going."

Byrd hit a grand slam in Tuesday's 10-6 victory and provided a two-run homer on Wednesday. Buck and Murphy each added two hits apiece, while Wheeler contributed an RBI double in New York's fifth win in six games.

An erratic Cain walked three, gave up three runs and only got two outs before he was lifted in the first inning. It was the shortest outing of his career.

Eric Young Jr. drew the first walk, swiped second and went to third on a throwing error from Buster Posey before scoring easily on Murphy's single.

Cain's command was noticeably off and soon loaded the bases after walking Ike Davis and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Bochy then lifted him after Buck dumped a slider into shallow center for a two-run single and a 3-0 Mets' lead.

Byrd provided New York with a five-run cushion in the fifth by sending a shot just over the center field wall.

Wheeler had given up 10 earned runs over his last three outings, but was cruising through the first five innings on Wednesday, limiting the Giants' offense to just a Pablo Sandoval single and a pair of walks.

He also helped offensively, contributing one of three doubles in the sixth for New York. He sent a shot over the head of Gregor Blanco in center to plate a run and Murphy followed two batters later with a two-bagger for a 7-0 lead.

The Giants got a run off Wheeler in the seventh on a Brandon Crawford single and scored another on a Tony Abreu sac fly in the ninth, but were up against too great of a margin. San Francisco had just six hits on the afternoon.

Game Notes

New York's David Wright went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games ... The Mets have won 15 of their last 23 contests ... It was New York's first three-game sweep of the season and first in San Francisco since 1994 ... The Giants were just 5-for-27 with runners in scoring position for the series.