The Mets fell behind 4-0, and their comeback effort came up short in Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Here are some key takeaways…
– After Taijuan Walker and Yu Darvish traded a pair of scoreless innings, the Padres struck first on a Fernando Tatis Jr. two-run homer in the bottom of the third. Tatis skied a ball to center field, and Mason Williams looked like he had a play, but the ball went in and out of his glove and bounced over the wall for a home run, giving San Diego a 2-0 lead.
The home run was only the second that Walker has allowed this season, with the other coming from Alec Bohm of the Phillies.
– Walker didn’t have his typical crisp command on Thursday night. In the fourth, Walker walked his third batter of the game, allowing Victor Caratini to reach on the free pass. Darvish then doubled to right (his second hit of the night), to give San Diego runners at second and third. A bloop single from Jurickson Profar gave San Diego a 3-0 lead.
– Meanwhile, Darvish was dealing, cruising through the first four innings without allowing a hit. The Mets finally delivered their first hit of the night with two outs in the fifth, as Williams hit a sharp grounder off the glove of Jake Cronenworth at first that deflected away.
After a Jose Peraza single to give the Mets runners at the corners with two outs, Luis Rojas let Walker hit, due mainly to the bullpen being stretched thin. Walker ended up grounding out to end the inning.
– Walker had some more control issues in the fifth, walking Ha-Seong Kim and eventually allowing a run on a wild pitch. The run was unearned, thanks to an error by Brandon Drury at third, but Walker’s night ended after the fifth.
He threw a season-high 104 pitches, allowing four runs (three earned), on seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
– James McCann stayed red hot, as he lined a two-run homer off of Darvish in the top of the sixth inning. Darvish threw a hanging breaking ball, and McCann ended up with his fifth home run of the year, brining the Mets back into the game at 4-2.
Still in the sixth, the Mets ended up chasing Darvish from the game before loading the bases against lefty Tim Hill. At that point, Rojas brought out Pete Alonso to pinch hit. But Alonso bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
– Jacob Barnes gave the Mets a pair of much needed innings in relief of Walker. The right-hander allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings, striking out two hitters.
Meanwhile, the Mets continued to chip away at the San Diego lead. After Francisco Lindor walked to lead off the top of the eighth inning, Billy McKinney tripled to deep right to make it a 4-3 game.
– Down one in the ninth, pinch-hitter Tomas Nido singled off Mark Melancon to get things started. After a Peraza walk put two runners on, Travis Blankenhorn bounced into a fielder’s choice and Kevin Pillar grounded into a double play to end the game.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Padres face off again on Friday night at 10:10 p.m.
Joey Lucchesi will start for the Mets against former Cy Young winner Blake Snell.