The New York Mets have never done well against San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell, and the trend continued in their 2-0 loss. Snell had everything going against the Mets and held them hitless for the first six innings of the game, and worked out of a massive jam in the seventh inning.
Blake Snell has been DEALING tonight ??
(via @Padres) pic.twitter.com/n4FKW7nRwU
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 5, 2021
The seventh inning was the one that settled the game with the score still 1-0. Francisco Lindor broke up the no-no with a leadoff single and advanced to third with an error from left fielder Tommy Pham. Snell rose to the occasion by striking out James McCann, getting Pete Alonso to pop out in a nine-pitch at-bat, and striking out Brandon Drury to end the inning. He finished the outing with seven one-hit innings with ten strikeouts and brought his ERA below five.
Wil Myers double and Jurickson Profar‘s hit by pitch in the bottom half resulted in a first and second no-out situation for the Padres. Drew Smith ended up turning a bunt into a 1-5-3 double play but ended up walking Tucupita Marcano to load the bases. Smith had Marcano stuck out on a check-swing, but umpires Quinn Wolcott and Nick Mahrley were the only two people in the stadium who thought he did not swing.
Find The Zone
Jeurys Familia tried to escape the jam but walked two in a row to give the Padres their second run. Familia got Jake Cronenworth to fly out to end the inning but the damage had already been done. Within the seventh the momentum swung from the Padres to the Mets then back to the Padres at the end of the inning.
In the ninth, the Mets attempted another comeback against Padres closer Mark Melancon. Lindor and Alonso singled to create a two-out opportunity for Drury but he struck out for the fourth time on the night. During the inning Quinn Wolcott made another of many horrible calls on McCann’s strikeout. Wolcott ejected McCann and manager Luis Rojas who got their money’s worth after he was inconsistent for both teams.
Injuries Catching Up
The replacement players in the Mets lineup went just 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts. Against bad teams the Mets have gotten away with “B” and “C” lineups but it will not work against winning teams like the Padres. The loss drops the Mets to 2-12 against teams over .500 and many of the losses are due to the lack of offense.
Joey Lucchesi put together a third straight solid outing and this one came against his former team. Lucchesi pitched 4.2 innings and allowed one run which came on Manny Machado’s first inning homer. With the recent news to Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard, it looks like Lucchesi will remain in the rotation in the long run. If Lucchesi can find consistent success we should see him surpass the 80+ pitch threshold to go deeper in games.
After facing two aces to start the series, the Mets roll out their own in Jacob deGrom for Saturday’s game. He faces off against Joe Musgrove who has a no-hitter this year and an ERA just over two. For the third straight night, it will be a 10:10 p.m. ET start from Petco Park.