Padres can’t overcome deGrom’s dominance in 3-2 loss

Citi Field- New York City, New York

For the second time this past week, the San Diego Padres were assigned the tough task of facing the ace of the New York Mets and the best pitcher baseball, Jacob deGrom. The Padres were not able to overcome his dominance in a tough 3-2 loss.

Once deGrom’s night ended, he dropped his ERA to 0.56 and his WHIP to 0.53. Although deGrom is technically not a qualified pitcher because he missed a few starts, both of those marks would lead all pitchers by a significant margin. deGrom also drove in two runs with a single, and those two runs ended up being the difference in the ballgame.

Jacob deGrom reached 100 K in 61 2/3 IP this season, the fewest IP by a starter to reach 100 K in a single season since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893. pic.twitter.com/TRFgpT8HuS

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 12, 2021

“It’s definitely frustrating to not be able to get anything off him,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “At the same time, he’s plus stuff, plus command, and he’s as tough as they come.”

Unfortunately for the Mets, deGrom left after six dominant innings due to right flexor tendinitis. Trailing 3-0, the Padres found new life going against Miguel Castro, who is still a really good reliever, but he’s not deGrom.

Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled with one out to get the rally going, and then Jake Cronenworth crushed his sixth home run of the year to get the Padres within one. Manny Machado reached on a walk but was stranded to end the inning.

Hello. pic.twitter.com/Exj3IF3IoJ

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 12, 2021

In the eighth, three Padres hitters stroked the ball over 95 MPH, but only one resulted in a hit, so it came down to the ninth inning against Edwin Diaz. After Diaz struck out Tatis Jr. and Cronenworth, Machado extended the game with a single.

Tingler rolled the dice and opted to pinch-hit Eric Hosmer for Will Myers. It almost paid off as Hosmer lined a ball down the right-field line, but it just bounced foul. Had it landed in fair territory, Machado may have scored as he was running off the crack of the bat with two outs. Diaz later got Hosmer to pop up to end the game.

Blake Snell started for the Padres, and they basically needed him to be perfect for a chance to beat deGrom and the Mets. In the fourth inning, Snell loaded the bases with one out but escaped when he rolled a double playback to himself. When Snell came back out for the fifth inning, he was set to face the bottom of the Mets’ order. They burned Snell, as the first four batters that inning reached, and Snell departed down 3-0. Bad innings continue to haunt Snell, who couldn’t carry over his dominance from his last start.

“Blake was matching deGrom through the first three innings,” Tingler said. “That’s as good as you’ll see two pitchers throwing the ball. Blake got into the fourth and lost his release point a little bit and battled through and couldn’t find it in the fifth.”

“The last two [innings] I couldn’t locate my fastball like I wanted to, and that was the outcome,” Snell said. “I feel really good, but I just lost my fastball the last two innings.”

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The bullpen followed Snell with four scoreless innings, including two from Craig Stammen, to keep the padres in the game.

It will be a little easier for the Padres on Saturday, as they will be facing Marcus Stroman when San Diego sends Joe Musgrove. Stroman is also not deGrom but is in the middle of one of his best seasons of a solid career. Stroman owns a 2.41 ERA in 71 innings this year and threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday against the Padres. The first pitch will be at 1:10 PT.

Dominic Stearn

Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also  is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”