Citi Field- Flushing, NY

Randy Vasquez got the nod for the series finale in New York with rookie Jonah Tong opposing him for the Mets. It was the rubber match of this key series. These are two teams currently occupying playoff spots with less than two weeks left in the season.

As has been the theme in this series, the Mets got to Padres pitching early with the long ball. Pete Alonso launched his 37th home run in the first inning, giving New York an early 1-0 lead.

The Padres responded in the third inning with their classic brand of small ball. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a single. He reached second on an errant pickoff throw from Tong and then got to third thanks to a wild pitch. That put Luis Arraez in a position to make an out but also drive in a run. He did so with a sacrifice fly to left, tying the game at one.

Vasquez was not sharp on Thursday. The Mets hitters were on him early. They led off the third inning with back-to-back singles, with Lindor reaching second on the throw. With runners on second and third and no outs, Juan Soto grounded out to drive in the go-ahead run. Alonso worked a walk, and that is where Vasquez’s day ended. In an aggressive move you wouldn’t normally see until the playoffs, Mike Shildt pulled the plug and opted for Wandy Peralta with just one out in the third inning.

That backfired immediately.

Brandon Nimmo launched his 24th home run of the season, driving in three runs and putting the Mets ahead 5-1.

That also ended Vasquez’s line, and it wasn’t a pretty one. In just 2 1/3 innings, he allowed four hits and four runs.

To Peralta’s credit, he stopped the bleeding after that. He got five outs with just that one hit, to bridge the gap after Vasquez’s early exit.

Shildt’s decision to pull Vasquez so early was a curious one, especially since Adrian Morejon, Mason Miller, and Robert Suarez all threw at least 19 pitches roughly 16 hours before. The team entered this game with an already-taxed bullpen.

That gave Shildt limited options to cover 6 2/3 innings-worth of baseball with his bullpen, if the Padres had forced a bottom of the ninth, that is.

Kyle Hart and Yuki Matsui both tossed scoreless frames after Peralta’s departure.

In a game where the Mets’ starter had an ERA over 8, the Padres should’ve felt good about possibly getting to him. They didn’t. Tong didn’t allow an earned run and finished five strong innings with eight strikeouts and zero walks.

The Mets bullpen took over, and the Friar bats remained silent.

Ron Marinaccio got the seventh inning out of the Padres’ bullpen and could not keep the stream of scoreless frames going. After a walk and a single to start the inning, Alonso launched a sacrifice fly to score the Mets’ sixth run of the afternoon.

With how poorly the Padres looked at the plate, that was plenty for the Mets to cruise to the series win. The Mets’ bullpen combined for four shutout innings with just two hits allowed and zero walks.

The Padres don’t have time to mope, however. They begin a weekend series with the White Sox in Chicago on Friday evening, still trying to gain traction ahead of a likely Wild Card Series.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.