Snell Out-Duels Peterson In 3-1 Mets’ Loss

The Mets had won six in a row and had not lost in the month of July coming into their Saturday night matchup against the Padres. They looked to keep the streak alive and turned the ball over to David Peterson (2-6, 6.46 ER). He was opposed by Blake Snell, the former Tampa Bay Ray (5-7, 2.85 ERA) for the Padres as the Mets looked to win their third consecutive series.

It was a pitchers’ dual between Snell and Peterson, but Snell was dominant and kept the Mets quiet at the plate. While Peterson pitched another quality outing, it was just one rough inning in the second that lost the game for Peterson. In total, he gave up three hits, including a two-run home run that led the Padres to a 3-1 win over the Mets.

The second & seventh innings were the only innings in which any runs were scored. The remainder of the scoreboard has zero’s on it as both teams were shut out throughout seven of nine innings. Ultimately, it was the Padres coming away with the win.

Both Peterson and Snell looked strong in the first in what seemed like it might be a pitchers dual of a game. Snell retired the Mets in order in the first and Peterson retired three of the first four he faced. The two pitchers combined for three strikeouts in the first.

Snell retired the Mets in order again in the second on three straight strikeouts, giving him five strikeouts through two innings.

Peterson struggled in the bottom of the second as the Padres got on the board first. Gary Sanchez led off the inning with a double to left field, and Jake Cronenworth followed with a single to that put runners on the corners with no outs. Brandon Dixon then flew-out to bring home Sanchez which gave the Padres a 1-0 lead with one out. Then, Matthew Batten followed with a two-run home run for the first of his career that scored Dixon and extended the Padres’ lead to 3-0 over the Mets.

Two batters later, after a strikeout of Grisham, Peterson continued to labor through the second. He gave up a two-out single to Fernando Tatis Jr. to left field, but Peterson then grounded out Juan Soto to get the Mets out of the inning and avoid further damage as Tatis Jr. was left stranded by the Padres.

The Mets collected their first hit of the game in the top of the third. After two more strikeouts by Snell, Mark Canha walked and Brandon Nimmo singled to put two runners on for the Mets. However, the Mets once again failed to produce with runners on the bases as they have many times this season. They left the runners stranded as Snell forced Pham into a groundout to end the inning.

Peterson then looked like himself again in the third, retiring the Padres in order. This was the start of him settling back in against a strong Padres lineup.

Snell continued to show he had his best stuff on Saturday. He struck out two more as the Mets struggled to figure out Snell on Saturday night. They went down in order again in the fourth.

Peterson had to labor through the fourth. He got two quick outs before giving up a walk and a single to put two runners on for San Diego. But then Peterson got the big out he needed and was able to get out of the inning.

Both Peterson and Snell pitched well in the fifth as they showed the kind of clutch pitchers they can be. Snell retired two and Sanchez threw Baty out on second to end the inning. Peterson struck out the side in his best inning of the night in the fifth, which brought him to seven strikeouts through five innings.

The Mets had a little momentum going in the top of the sixth, but the lack of production with runners on continued as they were unable to produce and left two runners stranded in the sixth to keep San Diego in the lead 3-0.

Peterson came back on to pitch the bottom of the sixth. Sanchez reached on a fielding error followed by a line out of Cronenworth. That ended Peterson’s night as Dominic Leone came on to replace Peterson on the mound for the Mets. Peterson was solid for the Mets on Saturday, striking out seven batters while allowing three runs across 5 1/3 innings.

The Padres went to their bullpen in the seventh. They brought in Luis Garcia to replace Snell on the mound for the Padres. With the Padres’ starter out of the game, the Mets came to life and found their way onto the scoreboard in the eighth as Francisco Álvarez stayed hot. He led off the inning with a home run to deep left-center field to decrease the Padres’ lead to 3-1. That was all the Mets accomplished in the seventh, but they were on the board and showed some signs of life in a late-night matchup with the Padres.

The Mets replaced Leone on the mound in the bottom of the inning, bringing in Grant Hartwig. The right-hander kept the Mets in the game by retiring the Padres in order to take the game to the eighth.

The bullpens continued to be put to work as the Padres again went to their bullpen in the eighth as well. With the All-Star break on the horizon, bullpen pitchers will get some rest after this weekend, so managers are taking their opportunities to use them. The Padres brought in Nick Martinez to pitch the eighth.

Martinez struck out the side as the strikeouts continued to be thrown in plenty the Padres.

Trevor Gott was next on for the Mets in the bottom of the eighth. He replaced Hartwig on the mound. One batter reached for San Diego, but Xander Bogaerts was picked off at first and Gott retired the other two he faced to give the Mets a chance to fight in the ninth.

The Padres brought in Josh Hader to close out the ninth. The Mets showed they are a team with heart and a fight in the ninth as they showed even in the early hours of the morning in East coast time, they still had life. Francisco Lindor singled to right field to lead-off the inning and keep the Mets alive. However, Hader retired the next three he faced as he shut the door on the Mets to close out the Padres 3-1 win over the Mets that ends their win streak at six.

Saturday’s game proved to be a pitchers battle. Peterson, though he came away with the loss, pitched well, as did all of the pitchers who pitched on Saturday. Mets pitching combined for 11 strikeouts, while Padres pitchers combined for 17 on a night when 28 total batters were struck out. But it was Blake Snell and the Padres who ultimately came away with the win in a hard-fought battle by both teams’ pitchers.

Player of the Game

David Peterson continued his solid play since he was called back up in June. On Saturday, it was just one rough second inning that hurt him and gave him the loss. However, it was another quality outing for Peterson. He threw 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven on Saturday.

On Deck

The Mets and Padres conclude their series and the first half of the season this afternoon at 4:10 PM ET. Max Scherzer (8-2, 4.03 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets against Joe Musgrove (7-2, 3.56 ERA) for the Padres.

The game will be available to watch on WPIX 11, and can be listened to on WCBS 880.