Mets takeaways from Sunday's 6-2 loss to Padres, including Max Scherzer's rough outing
With six straight wins the Mets had set themselves up to finish the first half in a big way, but Sunday’s 6-2 loss in San Diego was the second straight to the Padres and sends them to the All-Star break six games under .500 at 42-48.
The momentum from the winning streak disappeared as the Mets scored only three runs in the two losses in San Diego.
In Sundays’ game they fell behind early, thanks to a three-run home run by Manny Machado off Max Scherzer, and didn’t score until the eighth inning when they were trailing 6-0.
Here are some takeaways...
1. Scherzer finished a disappointing first-half with a poor start, mostly because he gave up two home runs to Machado, which accounted for all five of the Padres’ runs against him.
Scherzer lasted just five innings, throwing 99 pitches, and his ERA rose to 4.31. He’s also now given up 18 home runs this season.
The loss had to be painfully reminiscent to Mets’ fans of the wild-card game against the Padres last October, when Scherzer gave up four home runs.
This time he gave up a three-run blast to left to Machado in the first inning on a hanging slider, and a two-run shot to right on a 3-0 fastball in the fifth.
2. Unlike Game 3 of the Wild Card series last year, Buck Showalter didn’t ask the umpires to check Musgrove for a potential sticky-stuff violation, though the Padres’ right-hander dominated the Mets again.
He did give them some scoring opportunities, mainly because, strangely enough, he hit four Mets’ hitters with pitches though there was no sense the Mets thought any of them were intentional. He only allowed three hits and struck out seven while throwing six shutout innings with the help of three double-play ground balls.
3. The Mets had a couple of big chances against Musgrove in the early innings but couldn’t get the timely hit they needed. In the second inning they put runners on first and second with one out, but Francisco Alvarez hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
In the fourth inning they loaded the bases with one out but DH D.J. Stewart, who was making his first big-league start this season, struck out chasing a slider in the dirt. Alvarez then struck out swinging on a breaking ball as well.
When they finally broke through in the eighth, the Mets scored two runs and had a runner at second with no outs, but Francisco Lindor grounded out to short and Pete Alonso hit a soft liner that Xander Bogaerts jumped to catch and then doubled off Mark Canha at second base to end the inning.
4. Tommy Pham, the Mets’ hottest hitter for the last month or so, left the game in the first inning with a groin injury. He apparently hurt it chasing down Ha-Seong Kim’s single down the left-field line.
The Mets said Pham will have an MRI during the All-Star break that should determine the extent of the injury.
5. The game began oddly when the Mets made a bad decision to challenge a call against the first batter Scherzer faced. Brett Baty caught a pop-up by Kim but the third base umpire ruled no catch, saying the ball grazed the protective netting near the stands on the way down.
The Mets challenged quickly but there was no replay shown that offered any real evidence the ball did not touch the net. As a result, the call stood and Kim proceeded to single to left and start the Padres’ three-run rally.
Highlights
What's next
The Mets return to action Friday at 7:10 p.m. when New York opens the second half and begins a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.
