Padres fall flat in opener against Mets

Following an impressive series win that was highlighted by a blowout 10-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night baseball, the San Diego Padres lost the opening game of another premier series, 5-0, this time to the New York Mets.

Yu Darvish, who has recently dominated the Mets, matched up against Max Scherzer as Monday’s starting pitchers. The two also matched up in game 1 of the National League wild-card round in last year’s postseason.  This high-profile pitching matchup lived up to the hype, with Max Scherzer limiting the Padres to just one hit over five shutout innings. Darvish turned in a good start the got ballooned in the seventh inning.

Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, San Diego trailed 2-0, and with no off day for the next two weeks, Padres manager Bob Melvin rolled the dice by keeping Darvish in the game despite his pitch count nearing the century mark. A double by Mark Canha before Luis Guillorme kept a bunt fair down the third base line spelled trouble.

LUIS GUILLORME

HOW?! pic.twitter.com/Iil86ZeSMZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 11, 2023

A sacrifice fly charged Darvish with his third run, so Melvin went to the bullpen for Tim Hill. After another dribbler straddled the line, Francisco Lindor drove home two runs which were charged to Darvish, and the deficit was too much for the Padres.

Melvin pointed out that Darvish’s breaking pitches were much sharper than in his first start. San Diego will need Darvish to pitch deep into ballgames like he did tonight with Joe Musgrove’s return delayed after enduring shoulder pain following a play on his rehab start for Triple-A El Paso.

You can argue that he shouldn’t be this aggressive in a rehab start, but you can NEVER discredit the effort Joe Musgrove puts in every game https://t.co/fvTs4GiRMo pic.twitter.com/d0HcmKYkAF

— Al Scott (@AlScott1998) April 10, 2023

The Padres got into New York late last night following Sunday night baseball. Teams traveling after Sunday night baseball with no off day tend to struggle the following night, just as the Padres did. The offense that scored ten runs one night ago couldn’t muster one across. Trent Grisham, Manny Machado, and Juan Soto, the top three hitters ninth lineup, combined to go 0-9 to set the table. Matt Carpenter, who only starts against right-handed pitchers as the designated hitter to spell Nelson Cruz, struck out four times to receive the golden sombrero. It was a forgettable night for the bats.

San Diego will look to even up the series with Ryan Weathers making his second start of the season. He pitched five innings of two-run ball against the current NL West leaders, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The first pitch will be at 4:10 PT on TBS.

Dominic Stearn

Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also  is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”