Framing the Friars: Padres Crushed by Adrian Gonzalez and Mets 14-2
San Diego, California
Less than 24 hours after blowing out the New York Mets in a 12-2 onslaught with plenty of hitting and scoring, the Padres lost the series finale on April 29.
This time around, it was the Mets who were having all the fun.
They put up 14 runs on 19 hits. They took the lead in the first inning and never looked back.
The Padres used five different pitchers. Bryan Mitchell made the start. He allowed four runs on five hits. He took the loss.
Both of the Padres’ runs were driven in by Freddy Galvis. He hit a single up the middle in the in the third inning to trim the lead to 4-2. Eric Hosmer and Franchy Cordero both came around to score.
The Mets had run production from plenty of players in this one, but the most notable was their free agent first baseman acquisition, Adrian Gonzalez. He signed a one-year contract with the Mets back in January. So far this season, he has three home runs and 17 RBI.
He had a long ball and five RBI against the Padres in the series finale. Gonzalez hit a two-run double in the third inning. He added a three-run, opposite-field bomb in the seventh. Gonzalez finished the day 3-for-6.
Did we mention earlier that @Adrian_ElTitan is Petco Park’s all-time home run leader, too? pic.twitter.com/dnUAVVeHjC
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 29, 2018
As for the Padres’ offense, they struck out 12 times. The team scattered 10 hits throughout nine innings, but weren’t able to convert those into runs, other than the two scored in the third.
One of the more frustrating moments of the day happened in the sixth inning. Travis Jankowski, who was called up from Triple-A El Paso after Wil Myers went back on the 10-day disabled list, led off the inning with a single to left. Manuel Margot followed, and hit a ground-rule double. Jankowski went to third.
Mets reliever Paul Sewald then struck out Hosmer, Christian Villanueva, and Franchy Cordero to get out of the jam. The Padres put runners at second and third with no outs, but managed to score no runs.
Christian Villanueva finished the day 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. His 11-game hitting streak came to an end.
Up next, the Padres head to the bay for a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
The first game is on April 30, as the Friars will try to close out the month with a win. The game begins at 7:15 PDT.
Mike is the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, and has been with East Village Times since 2015. His work has appeared on Bleacher Report. He is an avid Padres fan who is keeping the faith and trusting the process.