SAN DIEGO — It’s time for the Mets to show they belong. So far, they’re keeping pace.
Despite the lopsided score, the Mets weren’t exactly dominant in an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night at Petco Park, but they did just enough to beat a team that hasn’t lost much since the All-Star break.
They stayed aggressive at bat, stuck to their game plan and made adjustments when necessary.
“I feel like when we play great teams like this, we tend to commit and focus a little bit more,” third baseman Mark Vientos said. “I feel like if we do that with every team, we’ll be in a good position toward the end of the season.”
Instead of waiting for the big hit, the Mets made singles count. They spread the offense around with eight of the nine starters getting hits. The Mets handed Dylan Cease (12-10) a loss for the second time this season.
After trailing 3-1 for most of the night, the Mets finally broke through in the top of the ninth inning against right-hander Logan Gillaspie, scoring five runs on seven hits and batting at breakneck speed. A sellout crowd filled the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter earlier than expected.
“That’s what it’s all about,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You have to find a way.”
Jeff McNeil hit 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Vientos hit 2 for 5 with three RBIs, including two in the ninth inning. Francisco Lindor, Jose Iglesias and Jesse Winker each had two hits, with Winker hitting a ninth-inning double. Pete Alonso hit 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.
The ninth-inning surge allowed Mendoza to save closer Edwin Diaz for later in the series. Diaz and long-hander Jose Butto are about the only relievers who haven’t struggled for the Mets lately, and Mendoza could have opted for Butto with Luis Severino on the leash after giving up nine runs in his last outing. Mendoza played the matchups and played them well, with left-hander Danny Young and right-handers Reed Garrett and Phil Maton holding the Padres scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Huascar Brazoban was unsteady in the ninth inning, giving up two runs, but the Mets were able to hold on, having already put so much distance between themselves and San Diego.
“They did a great job today,” Severino said. “And even Brazobán… I mean, it’s not easy to come into a game that’s 8-1 and try to stop him.”
After the best start of his career, Severino hesitated at times, but he made the pitches he needed to get out of trouble early. He sequenced his pitches well and had swings and misses on his sweeper.
The game’s key moment came in the fifth inning, with the Mets leading 3-0. Severino loaded the bases with no outs and Jake Cronenworth hit a hard ball to the right side. Iglesias made a fantastic sliding stop to start a 4-6-3 double play.
“It was a big play,” Iglesias said.[Lindor] “I was able to finish it off, Pete had a good shot early on. Sevy was electric. So that was a big play in today’s game to keep us in a good position.”
One run was scored, but the damage was minimal. Severino (9-6) held the Padres to one run on five hits, allowed four walks and struck out five in five innings.
“I thought everything was going well until the fifth inning, when the leadoff walk threw him off a little bit and he lost the zone a little bit,” Mendoza said. “But he kept pitching, getting the ground ball and making plays.”
Lindor and Vientos opened the game with back-to-back doubles off Cease to take a 1-0 lead. They took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on some hustle, with a passed ball that allowed Winker to score and Iglesias to advance to third with two outs. McNeil hit an infield single to score Iglesias.
The director praised McNeil’s enthusiasm on the base trails and appreciated the energy he saw in his group as a whole.
“We had good at-bats, we kept putting pressure on them, controlling the strike zone,” Mendoza said. “When we had pitches to hit, we did some damage.”
Cease allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits, walked one and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. Right-hander Brian Hoeing gave the Mets virtually nothing, striking out three and allowing just one hit in 1 2/3 innings. But it was all over once Gillaspie stepped on the mound.
The Padres (72-57) no longer share first place in the wild-card race with the Arizona Diamondbacks (72-56) and the Mets (67-61) are 1.5 games out of third place, currently occupied by the Atlanta Braves (68-59). Still, every game matters right now and the Mets made a statement in the first of four games this weekend against San Diego.
“I love the environment here,” Vientos said. “It’s exciting. It’s a great ballclub that had a great pitcher on the mound, and we did our job. So let’s keep going.”
