Mets Scores & Recaps

Mets can’t weather Padres young starter

Ryan Weathers escaped an early jam and the Mets couldn’t get anything else going against him, and missed chances in the late innings.

By David Capobianco@theitaliandave Apr 11, 2023, 10:13pm EDT

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Baseball is a funny game. One day after the Mets scored five runs and beat their nemesis Yu Darvish, they could not figure out Ryan Weathers, the owner of a career 5.40 ERA coming in to the game. The Mets really couldn’t get anything going offensively after the first inning, when they loaded the bases with nobody out, but Weathers escaped the storm and did not allow a run to score.

On the plus side, David Peterson delivered his best outing of the season. He was in control for the first four innings, locating much better than he did previously and using his elite slider to get whiffs. He ran in to trouble in the second inning when he had runners on the corners with one out, but induced a double play ball to get out of the frame.

The Mets eked out a run on a sacrifice fly by Mark Canha in the fourth, and Peterson held the Padres scoreless until the fifth, when he ran in to some more trouble. Singles by Luis Campusano and Brandon Dixon put two runners on. After Juan Soto grounded out to first, those runners moved up to second and third with two outs for Manny Machado.

Peterson battled Machado to a 2-2 count, but left a slider a bit too much over the plate and the Padres’ superstar third baseman was able to keep it fair down the left field line. Both runs scored, and the Padres took a 2-1 lead.

They never looked back from there. Peterson was able to pitch into the sixth, and was pulled after 5.2 innings of two-run ball. He walked two and struck out six.

The Mets’ had another chance to at least tie it in the eighth, when Eduardo Escobar walked and Tim Locastro pinch ran and stole second. Brandon Nimmo also walked, but strikeouts of Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor helped Steven Wilson through the inning.

The Mets bullpen held steady until the ninth, when Buck Showalter put Dennis Santana, probably the worst reliever in his bullpen, and Santana he allowed a two-run bomb to Xander Bogaerts to make it 4-1 at that point.

Josh Hader produced some drama in the ninth. He was wild and walked Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil to bring the tying run to the plate. Tommy Pham singled home a run, but Tomas Nido grounded out and Francisco Alvarez was completely overmatched by fastballs out of the zone, striking out while representing the winning run.

The Mets fall back to 6-6 on the young season with the loss. It’s worth noting that Brett Baty had three hits and a homer for Syracuse tonight while Eduardo Escobar’s batting average dropped to .111. The Mets still have a chance to take the series from the Padres tomorrow with Tylor Megill on the mound.