Paul Blackburn allowed a home run in the first. Things only got worse from there.
Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres scored three times in the second, and Blackburn caught a right-handed line drive in the third that knocked him out of the Mets’ 7-0 loss at Petco Park on Friday night. New York managed just two hits compared to the Padres’ 16.
In Atlanta, the Braves beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 in 10 innings, leaving the Mets (67-62) 2 1/2 games out of the final wild card spot. The Padres (73-57) have now won 23 of their last 30 games.
Reigning two-time batting champ Luis Arraez hit the opening home run against Blackburn as part of a 3-for-5 performance. The 27-year-old has hit 26 of 57 against the Mets in his career and has a .456 batting average, the highest of any opponent who has had at least 50 at-bats against New York. St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial With .405 he is second.
The Padres scored four consecutive hits early in the second inning, including a Kyle Higashioka With a two-run home run, they took a 4-0 lead.
MichaelJackson opened San Diego’s third base with a grounder to first base. Pete Alonso it looked like he was about to do an underhand flip to Blackburn to take the ball out of play, but he didn’t make it to the coin toss, and Merrill beat Alonso to the bag for an infield hit. David Peralta followed with the line drive from Blackburn’s hand. The Mets announced that he had suffered a bruised hand and will undergo further tests on Saturday.
The Padres scored twice in the third inning. Blackburn pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs and 10 hits. It was his second time with the Mets and the fourth time this year that he allowed at least five earned runs in a game, raising his ERA to 4.66.
In the meantime, Joe Musgrove delivered his best game of the year, striking out the first 13 batters he faced before Starling Marte in the fifth inning. Musgrove threw seven hitless innings, struck out nine players and allowed no walks. He has now pitched 20 consecutive scoreless innings against New York since his infamous 2022 playoff win that ended the Mets’ season.
Francisco Lindor extended his safe base-reaching streak to 22 games in a row with a two-out double in the ninth inning.
Statistics of the game
The Padres had 12 hits in the first three innings. The last time an opponent did that against the Mets was on July 18, 2018, when the Washington Nationals beat the Mets 25-4 and Anthony Rendon hit three home runs and scored ten RBIs.
Player of the match
Do we have to? Okay, Danielle Young threw two scoreless innings.
On deck
David Peterson (7-1, 3.00 ERA) faces right-handers Michael King (11-6, 3.18 ERA) in an 8:40 p.m. ET start. Both pitchers have pitched well of late. Peterson has posted a 1.85 ERA in August (four starts), while King is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts this month. The game will be broadcast on WPIX.
