Mets Ride DeGrom to Win 4-0 Over Padres

After dropping their first two games in San Diego, the Mets really needed their ace to be a stopper for them Saturday night. Thankfully their ace is Jacob deGrom, so naturally that’s exactly what he did.

Behind deGrom, and infinitely more offense than Friday’s shutout, the Mets returned the favor, downing the Padres 4-0 and giving themselves at least a shot at a series split.

DeGrom was brilliant. He went seven innings without allowing a run, gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out 11. His ninth strikeout was the 1,450th of his career, passing Sid Fernandez for fourth-place on the Mets’ all-time list.

After needing seven innings to record their first hit on Friday, the Mets needed just one batter Saturday as Billy McKinney led off the game with a double to right. They still couldn’t break their 10-inning scoreless streak however, as Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso both struck out feebly and Dom Smith’s hard liner hung up long enough for center fielder Jurickson Profar to pick it off.

Travis Blankenhorn hit his own double in the second, this one with two outs though, and deGrom was unable to drive him in – grounding out to second.

DeGrom breezed through the first, striking out two, but Fernando Tatis Jr. continued to be a thorn in the Mets’ side. His broken-bat hustle-double past a shifted Alonso led off the second, but a shallow flyout and two grounders – the latter fielded neatly and taken to the bag by deGrom himself – ended the inning without any damage.

Musgrove, with the help of home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt’s barn door-sized strike zone, struck out the side in the top of the third. deGrom also retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning, striking out one.

The Mets had two on with two out in the fourth — via a Smith single and Tomas Nido walk – but Musgrove struck out Blankenhorn with a high fastball to escape unscathed.

A Jake Cronenworth single, followed by a Lindor error on Tatis’s hard ground ball and an Eric Hosmer bloop loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half of the inning. From there, deGrom showed off his trademark Houdini act, striking out Wil Myers and Tucupita Marcano to silence the threat.

Finally, after 14 consecutive scoreless innings, the Mets got a player across home plate. It was Jose Peraza, whose solo homer to left broke the scoreless tie with one out in the top of the fifth. Two batters later, Lindor – who clearly felt the need to atone for his error in the top of the inning – rocketed a line drive over the right field wall to give the Mets a 2-0 lead at the midway point.

Armed with a lead for the first time in the series, deGrom retired the side in the fifth without breaking a sweat. Musgrove wasn’t so fortunate in the top of sixth, as base hits from Kevin Pillar and Nido put runners on the corners with no one out, ending his night.

Side-arming lefty Tim Hill entered at that point, as did Jonathan Villar as a pinch hitter. His single up the middle made it 3-0, but Hill was able to limit the damage there. deGrom worked around a Tatis walk in the bottom half of the sixth, picking up his eighth and ninth strikeouts in the process.

Slider specialist Austin Adams entered for the Padres in the seventh. Him and deGrom traded zeroes in the inning with deGrom striking out two more to bring his total to 11.

That would end deGrom’s night after 85 pitches. He didn’t allow a hit after the fourth inning and dropped his season ERA to 0.62. He’s now given up one or zero runs in his first nine starts of the year. No one else in MLB history has ever done that, but that’s not even a surprise anymore.

A Brandon Drury pinch-hit single and Jose Peraza walk set up McKinney with two on and two out in the eighth, but his long fly ball was caught just inches shy of the short porch in right field.

Seth Lugo entered for the Mets in the bottom half of the eighth, just his second appearance on the year. Tommy Pham greeted him with a single, but Lugo retired the next three, striking out two.

Lindor led off the eighth with a double and eventually scored on Pillar’s bloop single, giving Edwin Diaz an insurance run for the ninth. Diaz can struggle at times in non-save situations, but was nails Saturday, finishing the game with an 102 MPH fastball on the outside corner that Ha-Seong Kim could only helplessly watch land in Nido’s glove.

The Mets will look to even things up with the Padres Sunday behind Marcus Stroman (4-4, 2.66 ERA). Chris Paddack (2-4, 4.24 ERA) will oppose him in a much more welcome 4:10 p.m. start on PIX 11.