Stroman’s Stellar Outing, Mets’ Dingers Down Padres 4-1

With 25 thousand fans at Citi Field, The 7 Line Army in full force and Marcus Stroman on the hill, Saturday was the perfect opportunity to make a statement and take the season series from the dynamic Padres.

That’s exactly what they did, to the tune of 4-1, behind Stroman’s 6.1 inning, one run, eight strikeout performance. His ERA on the season is a sparkling 2.33.

After Tommy Pham greeted Stroman with a leadoff single, he coaxed a 4-6-3 double play from Trent Grisham and a routine groundout from Manny Machado to escape the first unscathed.

San Diego starter Joe Musgrove also allowed the leadoff man to reach – via a Jonathan Villar hit by pitch – but wasn’t as fortunate as Stroman as Francisco Lindor mashed his sixth homer of the year over the right centerfield fence.

Armed with a shiny 2-0 lead, Stroman struck out two in the second, skipping off the mound after catching Jake Cronenworth looking to end the frame.

Starting for the first time since returning Friday from an oblique injury, Luis Guillorme didn’t waste much time showing off his defensive wizardry, starting the third with a gorgeous sliding backhand stop and throw to retire Victor Caratini.

Musgrove settled in for the Padres, striking out five consecutive batters between the third and fourth innings. Stroman was equal to the task though, striking out three in that span and forcing another double play – this time from Eric Hosmer – to end the fourth.

Stroman struck out two more in the fifth, before running into a little trouble in the sixth. Tommy Pham singled with one out and stole second, but Stroman got Grisham swinging and Manny Machado grounded out to Villar to end the brief threat.

Lindor walked to lead off the bottom half of the inning and Alonso singled to give the Mets runners on the corners with no one out. Dom Smith’s fielder’s choice brought in Lindor, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead after six.

Stroman gave up the lone Padre run in the top half of the seventh, a towering home run from (of course) Fernando Tatis Jr. After a Hosmer groundout and walk to Wil Myers, Stroman was spelled by Aaron Loup, who retired Cronenworth and Caratini to keep the Met lead at two.

Seth Lugo entered for the eighth and was dominant as usual, striking out three of the top four Padre hitters around a Grisham walk.

Villar gave the Mets an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning, leading off the frame with a solo homer into the upper deck in right. That was plenty for Edwin Diaz, who retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out Tatis for the third time on the day (the first time in his career he’s struck out three times in back-to-back games) and receiving a little help from Lindor on a beautiful game-ending play off a ricochet.

The Mets go for the sweep Sunday at 1:10 p.m. on WPIX. Former Padre Joey Lucchesi will face his old team for the second weekend in a row opposed by Chris Paddack, who took the loss against the Mets last Sunday.