SAN DIEGO — The Mets and the San Diego Padres started a three-game series as two big-money teams with identical losing records. Both entered the weekend desperate to win the series with the All-Star break looming.
But it was the Padres who bested the Mets on Sunday to win two of three and take the series, heading into the All-Star break on a winning note. Manny Machado hit two home runs off of right-hander Max Scherzer and Joe Musgrove was dominant in a 6-2 win.
“Musgrove pitched really well and they were able to put some really good swings on Max,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “We were never able to fully recover from that. They played really well. They’re a much better team than their record indicates, as we are.”
Scherzer was hit hard right from the start. Machado belted a three-run homer in the first inning with only one out to put San Diego up 3-0. His second home run, a two-run shot to the opposite field, came in the fifth to give the Padres a 5-0 lead and push the game out of reach for the Mets.
“Frustrating,” Scherzer said. “The runs were scored on homers and the first homer was a hanging slider. When I threw that pitch, I thought I got it down and away. Out of my hand, I thought I got it down and away and I threw a hanging slider. Accountable for that. I’ve got to be better than that.”
Onetime former Met Gary Sanchez scored the sixth run in the sixth, doubling off of right-hander T.J. McFarland to lead off the inning. This came right after dropped a popup that would have been an out. The Mets parted ways with Sanchez after only three games in part to be able to give Alvarez more playing time.
Trent Grisham’s one-out RBI single scored the former Yankees backstop.
The Mets never really came close to threatening against Musgrove (8-2), who allowed only three hits over six shutout innings and struck out seven. The Mets let him pitch without incident, unlike last October when his shiny ears caused an uproar at Citi Field.
Musgrove won that game, shutting out the Mets over seven innings. The Mets lost 6-0 to bow out of the playoffs much earlier than anticipated.
Nothing has gone according to plan for this club since.
“He located well, he kept us off balance and didn’t throw many fastballs and located his off-speed well,” Nimmo said. “He’s done this twice now where he’s pitched really, really well against us.”
Scherzer went five innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits, walking three and striking out seven. This performance was a departure from his recent outings, but all season and one winning week wasn’t enough to break that pattern. Scherzer took the loss (8-3), his first since May 3 against the Detroit Tigers, struggling the most with his slider.
“I’ve always been able to pitch with a slider, I’ve always been able to get that thing down and away,” Scherzer said. “Right now, I’m being a little inconsistent with it and leaving it in the middle part of the plate at the wrong time. That’s why I’m getting beat.”
The Mets rallied for two runs in the eighth when Mark Canha hit a two-run double off lefty Adrian Morejon. With two on and none out, the outfielder drove one to center field to clear the bases and put the Mets on the board. Canha wasn’t even initially in the lineup, entering in the second inning after Tommy Pham injured his right groin running down a single by Sanchez in the top of the first.
The Mets would get no further. Pete Alonso hit a hard liner to center field but Xander Bogaerts snagged it and doubled off Canha at second to end the inning.
It was a weekend of shaky pitching performances and more sloppy defense from the Mets (42-48), who were able to overcome their own mistakes Friday night in the series opener to .
“When something breaks from the norm, you do look at it, but what do you do?” Showalter said of the defense. “You trust people that are good at it and have been in the past and will be again.”
Wins don’t come easy with that kind of play. The Padres (43-47) played clean and had two and Musgrove and now find themselves in a more enviable position heading into the break.
“It’s not like there’s one magic key,” Showalter said. “There is none. You’ve got to have all things clicking. And like I said before today, if something isn’t working well then something else picks it up.”
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