Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres (1-0) defeated the New York Mets (0-1) by the score of 7-1 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card series Friday. Max Scherzer was awarded the start due to his fantastic first season in Flushing and did not pitch to the back of his baseball card. Meanwhile, Yu Darvish was dominant for the Padres and shut down the Mets’ offense over seven strong innings.

San Diego started its onslaught against Scherzer in the first inning. Jurickson Profar took the first pitch of the game into left field for a single and put Scherzer in immediate trouble. The Mets’ ace was able to bear down and retired Juan Soto and Manny Machado for the first two outs. Right when it seemed Scherzer was going to escape the inning, Josh Bell launched a fastball over the fence to give the Padres an early 2-0 lead.

The Padres kept the pressure on Scherzer and got to him again in the top of the second. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, Scherzer looked to escape the top of the second unscathed. Then, with two outs, Trent Grisham hit a solo home run to increase the Padres’ lead to 3-0.

Scherzer retired the next six batters but ran into more trouble with the long ball in the top of the fifth. Ha-Seong Kim singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a ground-rule double hit by Austin Nola. Profar, who slashed .364/.482/.591 against the Mets in 2022, followed Nola’s double with a three-run home run to double the Padres’ lead to 6-0. Two batters later, with two outs in the inning, Machado hit a solo home run of his own to pad the Padres’ lead to 7-0.

Scherzer was pulled from the game after the home run to Machado. In his first postseason start in Queens, Scherzer allowed seven earned runs and four home runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched. It was the first time in 22 postseason starts where Scherzer had allowed more than two home runs. The seven earned runs Scherzer allowed in Friday’s start were the second most allowed by the ace in his postseason career, the most being nine earned against the Texas Rangers back in the 2011 ALCS.

The Mets finally struck against Darvish in the top of the fifth inning. With one out in the inning, Eduardo Escobar clubbed a solo home run to center field to cut the deficit to 7-1. Brandon Nimmo hit a triple after the solo home run but was stranded on third base.

Darvish continued to cruise in Game 1 and did not allow another run in his outing against the Mets. The Padres ace silenced the crowd in Queens and allowed one run over seven innings of work.

The Mets bullpen was lights out against the Padres after Scherzer exited the game. Trevor May, Seth Lugo, David Peterson, and Mychal Givens combined for 4 1/3 innings and did not allow a run.

The Mets offense was non-existent the whole night and was not able to capitalize on scoring opportunities. In Game 1, the Mets went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and were one swing away from being shut out.

Player of the Game: Eduardo Escobar

Escobar was the bright spot in a dormant Mets offense on Friday night. The Mets’ third baseman went 2-for-3 with a home run, double, and walk in Game 1 against the Padres.

On Deck

Jacob deGrom (5-4, 3.08 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday due to the Mets’ Game 1 loss. DeGrom will pitch in the postseason for the first time since 2015 and look to return to form after pitching to an ERA of 4.50 in September.

Blake Snell (8-10, 3.38 ERA) will get the nod against deGrom on Saturday for the Padres. Snell was excellent in September and pitched to an ERA of 2.17 while striking out 12.7 batters per nine innings.

Game 2 will begin at 7:37 p.m. on Saturday. Fans can catch the game on ESPN and WCBS 880.