There was a 99.6 mph one-hopper off the back of Dylan Cease’s head, the fiery ejection of New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, a home run robbery by Fernando Tatis Jr., a grand slam by Mark Vientos and then a five-run rally by the San Diego Padres after Vientos’ slam.
And that was just the first five innings of Monday night’s series opener between the Padres and Mets in San Diego, won by the home team 7-6 via a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the bottom of the ninth by Elias Diaz.
If the teams produce an encore Tuesday night anywhere near as entertaining as the opener, it will be worth it for Mets’ fans to stay up into the wee hours of the night to watch.
“I thought it was a great game,” Vientos said. “You’re talking about two playoff teams going back and forth. They just came out on top.”
Vientos did his part to try to extend New York’s winning streak, which ended at seven games. He was robbed of a two-run homer in the fourth inning when Tatis soared above the wall in right-center to bring the ball back for a long first out.
Vientos still wound up with two hits and is batting .319 in his past 13 games, looking more like hitter guy who slugged 27 homers last season and added five in the postseason instead of the one who came into the game Monday night hitting a measly .226.
“I’m just doubling down on my approach and what I want at the plate,” he said of his recent surge.
The Mets will give the ball to left-hander Sean Manaea (1-1, 2.19 ERA), who is coming off a 6-3 win Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. Manaea sailed through five innings, permitting just two hits and a run on a Mike Trout solo homer with two walks and five strikeouts. He’s 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine career outings against the Padres.
San Diego is scheduled to start rookie right-hander Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.84), who is being brought up from Triple-A El Paso to start. He last pitched for the Padres on July 11, going the first 4 2/3 innings of a 4-2 win over Philadelphia and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
The turn of veteran Yu Darvish is being pushed back to Wednesday, giving him an extra day to prepare after allowing eight runs in a 9-7 loss in St. Louis on Thursday night. Manager Mike Shildt said Darvish isn’t ailing but felt it was better to give him and other starters an extra day after four games in punishing humidity.
Shildt said the Padres have found themselves offensively. They have 13 hits with runners in scoring position in the past two games, a bane of theirs since a 15-4 start.
“We’ve re-established our identity — doing what the game calls for,” he said. “We talk about Petco Park hitting and we’ve been able to do it fairly consistently. Guys are playing the game the right way.”
Manny Machado is 13-of-21 in his past five games, upping his average to .302 to lead the National League. Luis Arraez has hit safely in all 11 games since the All-Star break to increase his average from .282 to .292, tied for fifth in the NL.
As an aside, Cease stayed in the game after being hit by the Francisco Lindor batted ball in the third inning. He departed with two outs in the fifth after giving up five runs on five hits and five walks. He struck out nine.
–Field Level Media
–Field Level Media
