Mets continue west coast swing with three against Padres

The Mets (37-19) make their second stop out west as they visit beautiful San Diego to play three with the Padres (33-21). The Mets won the season series against the Padres last year, recording four victories in seven tries, which included splitting a four-game set at Petco Park.

Tasked with their biggest challenge to date this year, the Mets went to Los Angeles and split a series against the powerful Dodgers to reclaim the best record in the National League. Minus Francisco Lindor in the first game, New York was shut out for the first time in 2022 as they fell 2-0. The Mets managed just three hits against Tony Gonsolin and three L.A. relievers, while run-scoring hits from Mookie Betts in the fifth and Justin Turner in the sixth were more than enough to sink the Mets.

The Mets fell again on Friday night, this time by a 6-1 final score. Chris Bassitt surrendered two-run homers to Cody Bellinger in the second and Zack McKinstry in the fourth, which was more than his club could recover from. Tyler Anderson extended his shutout streak to 26 with six shutout frames, but Pete Alonso got the Mets on the board by unloading on the first pitch he saw from reliever Yency Almonte in the seventh and sending it over the left field wall for a solo homer. That would prove to be all the offense New York would muster on the evening, as they picked up a paltry five hits in the loss.

After a two-day delay, the team’s bats finally arrived from JFK on Saturday, as they got 13 hits and pushed nine runs across the plate in a resounding 9-4 victory. Lindor, whose RBI streak was snapped at ten on Friday night, started a new streak in the first inning by hitting a solo homer far over the right field wall. Los Angeles jumped all over David Peterson in the second, scoring four runs, which the big blow coming courtesy of a Betts bases-clearing double. After Peterson couldn’t escape the third, the Mets’ bullpen held the Dodgers in check over the final 6.1 innings. On offense, the bats awakened, with Alonso hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the third to give New York a lead they would not relinquish, and adding some insurance with a three-run homer in the seventh. In between that, Eduardo Escobar contributed a solo homer in the sixth. There was some comical controversy later in the game, as Dave Roberts tried to pitch a position player down by only five runs, which is against the rules. Buck Showalter and Gary Cohen appeared to be the only two people who knew the relatively new rule, and it delayed things by a little bit, though ultimately did not factor in the game’s outcome.

The Mets came from behind, then blew the lead, and then jumped back ahead in the tenth to win a wild one 5-4 on Sunday. Trea Turner, whose hitting streak was snapped on Saturday, got a new one started by hitting a two-run homer in the top of the first, but that was all Trevor Williams would allow over 5.0 effective innings. Starling Marte got the Mets on the board with a solo homer in the third, and things would stay 2-1 until the eighth. The Mets pushed three across in the inning, as Alonso doubled home a run, Escobar pushed the go-ahead run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, and Tomás Nido singled to drive home Mark Canha. Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless eighth, and Seth Lugo was called upon for the ninth and ended up giving up two runs to send the game into extras. J.D. Davis doubled home Alonso to put the Mets back on top, and Adonis Medina danced around the runner on second to close out the victory.

The Padres swept the Brewers over the weekend to draw to within two games of the Dodgers for first place in the National League West. They shut out Milwaukee in the first two games while winning the Sunday finale 6-3 in 10 innings.

Manny Machado is having an MVP-caliber season for San Diego and should factor into the award voting if he keeps up this pace. Machado is currently slashing .333/.409/.551 with nine homers, 32 runs batted in, 38 runs scored, a 168 wRC+, and a 3.5 fWAR, leading the way in every one of those categories. Eric Hosmer, who was almost traded to the Mets prior to the season, is hitting .296/.357/.418 with four homers, a 120 wRC+, and a 0.8 fWAR, which puts him on pace for his best season since arriving in San Diego.

Aside from that, their offense has been pretty weak, as their 93 wRC+ as a team ranks 11th out of the 15 National League clubs. Their pitching has carried them this far, with their starting pitchers posting a 3.11 ERA, good for second-best in the NL behind just the Dodgers. Meanwhile, their 3.74 bullpen ERA comes in at fifth in the NL.

Monday, June 6: Carlos Carrasco vs. Blake Snell, 9:40 p.m. on SNY

Carrasco (2022): 57.0 IP, 51 K, 13 BB, 3 HR, 3.63 ERA, 2.94 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 1.1 bWAR

In his last start against the Nationals, Carrasco didn’t allow a run over five innings, though he was hardly at his sharpest. The right-hander only surrendered four hits, but he walked five batters on the afternoon, which represents a season-high for Cookie. Carrasco struck out five and, most importantly, was not hurt by any of the walks he issued, and he was able to pick up his fifth win over his last six starts, and his sixth victory overall in 2022. It has now been four straight starts where Carrasco has been unable to complete six innings, and we’ll see if that trend continues in San Diego. Given the wear on the bullpen the last two games, a long outing would be a big boost for his club.

Snell (2022): 15.0 IP, 18 K, 8 BB, 2 HR, 4.80 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 0.0 bWAR

After getting scratched from his season debut on April 10, Snell missed the first month-and-a-half of the season with an adductor strain, which is the same injury that plagued him last September. After shutting down throwing, he finally made his season debut against Philadelphia on May 18, going 3.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on three hits, with five strikeouts and three walks. In his second start, he surpassed 100 pitches and allowed three earned runs on three hits in 5.1 innings. In his most recent appearance, he went 6.0 innings and had his best outing yet, allowing two earned runs on two hits with six strikeouts against the Cardinals.

Tuesday, June 7: Taijuan Walker vs. Yu Darvish, 9:40 p.m. on SNY

Walker (2022): 40.2 IP, 21 K, 13 BB, 2 HR, 2.88 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.28 WHIP, 1.2 bWAR

Walker earned his first loss of 2022, though you could hardly blame him as much as you can blame New York’s non-existant offense. The right-hander held a potent Dodgers club to two earned runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings. He matched Gonsolin zero for zero in the first four innings, but allowed runs in the fifth and sixth and was unable to escape his last inning of work. He’s now allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last three starts and, aside from his one rocky outing against Philadelphia on May 5, he’s had a great year for the Mets.

Darvish (2022): 60.1 IP, 48 K, 15 BB, 5 HR, 4.03 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 0.3 bWAR

Darvish comes into this start with an ERA over 4.00, though much of that is skewed thanks to his second start of the season, where he allowed nine runs in 1.2 innings. Aside from that outing, he’s gone at least 5.2 innings in each of his of his other nine starts. His last time out against the Cardinals, he picked up a loss after allowing five earned runs on five hits on seven hits over 7.2 innings. Prior to that, he lost to the Brewers after giving up two earned runs on three hits over 6.2 innings. Those two losses followed his best outing of the year against the Phillies, whom he shut out over 7.0 strong innings. He has typically excelled against the Mets and owns a 3.26 ERA in six starts against them lifetime.

Wednesday, June 8: Chris Bassitt vs. Sean Manaea, 9:40 p.m. on SNY

Bassitt (2022): 65.0 IP, 68 K, 21 BB, 11 HR, 3.74 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 1.0 bWAR

Bassitt was bitten by the long ball in his last outing, though he finished up with a fairly respectable line in the end. The right-hander was tagged for four runs (three earned) on five hits as he was handed his third loss of the year. Bassitt struck out eight, which matched his season high from three other starts, while walking two in defeat. Two-run homers from Bellinger and McKinstry did him in, though with the club’s offensive production, one of those home runs would have been enough to stink him.

Manaea (2022): 62.0 IP, 68 K, 21 BB, 8 HR, 3.77 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.11 WHIP, 0.4 bWAR

San Diego acquired Manaea in a trade with the Athletics that came four days before the start of the season and, so far, his numbers are right in line with his career norms. The left-hander, who led the league with 32 starts and 2 Complete Game shutouts last year, owns a 3.77 ERA and a 3.65 FIP, both of which would be his second-best marks over a full season. He is coming off a strong showing against Milwaukee, although he settled for a no decision as his club eventually lost that game. He allowed one earned runs on five hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts over 6.0 innings.

Prediction: The Mets take two of three against the Padres.