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Series tied 1-1
With their season on the line, they came to the park and did what they had to do. Francisco Lindor homered, Jeff McNeil drove in two runs, and the New York Mets defeated the San Diego Padres with a 7-3 victory on Saturday night in Queens.
After dropping the opening game of the wild card round on Friday, the Mets responded in a big way on Saturday night, picking up the win with a 4 run margin, forcing a decisive game 3 to settle who goes to the NLDS, and who goes home.
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso talked about the win, saying that "We had contributions from everyone up and down the lineup. Then Jake, I mean, he set the tone right from the start. He poured his heart out there for us."
Lindor got it started right away, blasting a first inning solo home run to put the Mets ahead 1-0. It stayed that way until Trent Grisham homered for the second day in a row, this one being a solo home run to tie the game 1-1. In the 4th inning, Brandon Nimmo gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with an RBI single to score Eduardo Escobar. In the 5th, an RBI single from Jurickson Profar and a solo homer from Alonso made the score 3-2 in favor of the Mets.
McNeil added to the Mets lead in the 7th inning, lacing a two run double to the right center field gap, making it a 5-2 Mets win. Escobar then added an RBI single, and Dan Vogelbach hit a sac fly to score McNeil, making the score 7-2. With the bases loaded in the 9th, Manny Machado drew a bases loaded walk to make it 7-3, with the Mets in front.
With the Mets facing elimination, they turned to Jacob deGrom. He did his job, allowing two runs while striking out 8 hitters in 6 innings. Edwin Diaz came on next and threw 1 2/3 shutout innings. Adam Ottavino pitched an inning, and Seth Lugo picked up the save in the 9th inning.
deGrom said that he was "trying to make pitches when I needed to. That's what I was able to do tonight. I've got to tip my hat to Trent. That homer, I felt like that was a good pitch, and he just got to it. After that, then I ended up walking him. But in spots with runners in scoring position, the main focus was one pitch at a time, to make the pitch I needed to make."
It was Blake Snell on the mound for the Padres, who let in two runs on 4 hits and 6 walks in 3 1/3 innings. Nick Martinez came on next and allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings, getting the loss. Adrian Morejon allowed 4 runs without recording an out, with Pierce Johnson and Steven Wilson also pitching.
Grisham said of the loss after the game that "We knew going into this game it was going to be tough. Any team that's fighting for its life is going to come out guns blazing. We're gonna be in the same situation tomorrow."
Up next, the series wraps up with a decisive game 3 on Sunday night. Joe Musgrove starts for the Padres and Chris Bassitt goes for the Mets as they both look to advance to the NLDS.
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