Padres @ Mets: 07/25 12:10 PM ET; SNY, FS, MLBN; WCBS, ESPN, KEGY

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GAME 102, HOME GAME 45

Thursday, 25th July,
12:10 PM ET
Citi Field




PADRES -- STANDINGS



METS -- STANDINGS



PADRES -- LEADERS -- METS



PADRES -- BATTING -- METS



PADRES -- PITCHING -- METS



PADRES -- TRANSACTIONS - INJURIES



METS -- TRANSACTIONS - INJURIES



GAME START WEATHER



PADRES -- LINEUPS -- METS

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After Beating Syndergaard, Padres Face Mets' deGrom Next



Adding a starting pitcher may be something the San Diego Padres wind up doing by the July 31 trade deadline.

The Padres are linked to New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard, whom they faced Wednesday, but the next starting pitcher they oppose is unlikely to change uniforms.

After scoring four runs off Syndergaard, the visiting Padres get a crack at Jacob deGrom on Thursday afternoon when they oppose the Mets in the rubber game of a three-game series.

The Padres have just six wins in their past 19 games and are six games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild-card spot in the National League. They rebounded nicely from allowing three homers to Robinson Cano on Tuesday and evened the series by doing enough off Syndergaard in a 7-2 win on Wednesday.

Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges drove in two runs apiece. Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits and is batting .370 (10-for-27) with two homers and eight RBIs in his last six games. Tatis' 26 multi-hit games are two behind Mets first baseman Pete Alonso for the league lead among rookies.

"He's nasty," Hedges said of Syndergaard. "I think the boys just rose to the challenge. He made some mistakes, walked some guys. We took advantage of some stuff on the bases. That's how you beat a guy like that."

The Mets are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second-worst record in the National League and would fall 10 games under .500 if they lose Thursday. The Mets were a season-high 11 games under at 40-51 after July 12, but they won the next four. They enter Thursday with four losses in their past six games.

Two of those losses were partly due to misadventures by Dominic Smith. The novice left fielder allowed a popup to fall between him and shortstop Amed Rosario to give the San Francisco Giants a 1-0 win in the 10th inning Friday, and then he committed two errors in a three-run third for San Diego on Wednesday.

"I don't want to say altered your confidence, but it's very frustrating because we get here so early every day and put in so much work to be prepared for the game," Smith said. "You get your one or two chances and stuff like that happens, so it's very frustrating."

Besides attempting to rebound from Smith's misplays on defense, the Mets are hoping to put together a better showing at the plate. They mustered five hits, struck out 13 times and left the bases loaded twice Wednesday.

DeGrom, who signed a six-year contract extension in spring training, is coming off pitching seven scoreless innings Friday at San Francisco. He struck out 10 and allowed only three hits.

The right-hander is 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA in his last 11 starts, and the Mets are 3-8 in those games. During those games, deGrom has 87 strikeouts and 17 walks. The recent stretch resembles most of last season, when he was 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA and received less than two runs of support in 12 games.

Against San Diego, deGrom is 3-3 with a 1.79 ERA in seven career starts.

Eric Lauer (5-7, 4.31 ERA) will start for San Diego, seeking his first win since June 3. In his past six starts, Lauer is 0-3 with a 4.60 ERA. He last pitched Friday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, where he allowed five runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Lauer will make his second career start against the Mets. He allowed six runs in four innings on July 24, 2018, taking the loss as San Diego fell 6-3.

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Top of 1:
Padres first. Tatis Jr. grounded out, second baseman Canó to first baseman Alonso. Margot struck out. Machado singled to center. Hosmer struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Bottom of 1:
Mets first. Rosario grounded out, third baseman Machado to first baseman Hosmer. Davis walked. Alonso singled to center, Davis to third. Ramos hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Margot, Davis scored. Canó singled to center, Alonso to second. Frazier doubled to left, Alonso scored, Canó scored. Conforto singled to right, Frazier scored. Lagares fouled out to first baseman Hosmer.
Runs: 4, Hits: 4

Top of 2:
Padres second. Renfroe lined out to left fielder Davis. Reyes struck out. F.Mejía struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 0

Bottom of 2:
Mets second. deGrom flied out to left fielder Renfroe. Rosario struck out. Davis doubled to center. Alonso was intentionally walked. Ramos flied out to center fielder Margot.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 3:
Padres third. L.Urías grounded out, shortstop Rosario to first baseman Alonso. Lauer struck out. Tatis Jr. grounded out, second baseman Canó to first baseman Alonso.
Runs: 0, Hits: 0

Bottom of 3:
Mets third. Canó grounded out, second baseman L.Urías to first baseman Hosmer. Frazier walked on a full count. Conforto singled to center, Frazier to third. Perdomo pitching. Lagares struck out. Conforto was caught stealing, catcher F.Mejía to second baseman L.Urías, Conforto out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 4:
Padres fourth. Margot fouled out to first baseman Alonso. Machado lined out to center fielder Lagares. Hosmer struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 0

Bottom of 4:
Mets fourth. deGrom grounded out, pitcher Perdomo to first baseman Hosmer. Rosario grounded out, third baseman Machado to first baseman Hosmer. Davis hit an infield single to third. Alonso flied out to center fielder Margot.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 5:
Padres fifth. Renfroe struck out. Reyes grounded out, first baseman Alonso to pitcher deGrom. F.Mejía singled to right. L.Urías flied out to center fielder Lagares.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Bottom of 5:
Mets fifth. Morejon pitching. Ramos grounded out, shortstop Tatis Jr. to first baseman Hosmer. Canó grounded out, third baseman Machado to first baseman Hosmer. Frazier singled to left. Conforto struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 6:
Padres sixth. Garcia pinch-hitting for Morejon. Garcia walked on a full count. Tatis Jr. struck out. Margot popped out to right fielder Conforto. Machado singled to right, Garcia to second. Hosmer lined out to center fielder Lagares.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Bottom of 6:
Mets sixth. Allen pitching. Renfroe in as center fielder. Garcia in as left fielder. Lagares singled to left. deGrom struck out. Rosario walked on four pitches, Lagares to second. Davis flied out to center fielder Renfroe, Lagares to third. Alonso grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman Machado to second baseman L.Urías, Rosario out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 7:
Padres seventh. Renfroe grounded out, third baseman Frazier to first baseman Alonso. Reyes struck out. F.Mejía singled to right. L.Urías grounded into fielder's choice, shortstop Rosario to second baseman Canó, F.Mejía out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Bottom of 7:
Mets seventh. Ramos flied out to center fielder Renfroe. Canó grounded out, pitcher Allen to first baseman Hosmer. Frazier walked on a full count. Conforto safe at first on fielding error by second baseman L.Urías, Frazier to second. Lagares hit an infield single to shortstop, Frazier to third, Conforto to second. McNeil pinch-hitting for deGrom. McNeil grounded out, shortstop Tatis Jr. to first baseman Hosmer.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 8:
Padres eighth. Lugo pitching. Garcia grounded out, shortstop Rosario to first baseman Alonso. Tatis Jr. struck out. Myers pinch-hitting for Allen. Myers struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 0

Bottom of 8:
Mets eighth. M.Baez pitching. Rosario lined out to center fielder Renfroe. Davis struck out. Alonso was hit by a pitch. Ramos singled to right, Alonso to second. On M.Baez's wild pitch, Alonso to third, Ramos to second. Canó was intentionally walked. Frazier struck out.
Runs: 0, Hits: 1

Top of 9:
Padres ninth. Díaz pitching. Machado singled to center. Avilán pitching. Hosmer struck out. Renfroe struck out. Reyes singled to center, Machado to third. F.Mejía flied out to right fielder Conforto.
Runs: 0, Hits: 2

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With Rare Early Lead, Mets' deGrom Shines in 4-0 Win vs Padres



by JAKE SEINER

-- No big league pitcher has been better in the sun than Mets ace Jacob deGrom.

Given a rare bit of first-inning run support, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner shined as expected.

DeGrom pitched seven innings of four-hit ball after teammates gifted him an unprecedented early lead and New York beat the San Diego Padres 4-0 Thursday.

Todd Frazier hit a two-run double as New York built a four-run lead in its first turn against Eric Lauer, the most runs the Mets have scored in the first inning during deGrom's 160 starts.

"That was nice," deGrom said. "But every time I go out there I try to think of it as a 0-0 baseball game."

DeGrom (6-7) struck out nine and walked one on 105 pitches in the matinee, extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings. The ace from the Sunshine State has a 1.86 ERA in 52 day games, best in the majors since at least 1913 for pitchers with at least 200 innings.

Mets closer Edwin Diaz entered for the ninth in a non-save situation and was pulled after Manny Machado drilled a base hit off his left big toe. Diaz limped off the field with a trainer and was replaced by Luis Avilan. X-rays were negative.

The Padres have lost nine of 12, a slump that likely has dropped them out the crowded wild card race. Lauer (5-8) was pulled after 2 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on six hits and three walks.

"Big hole for us," San Diego manager Andy Green said. "Rarely does a team come back spotting that guy four runs."

DeGrom danced around bats with a slider averaging 91.8 mph. He threw the pitch 58 times, eight more than his previous career high in a 10-strikeout game against Philadelphia on July 5. This was the first time deGrom went slider for more than half of his pitches.

Manager Mickey Callaway called it "probably the best" slider in baseball.

"Just velo, break, the way it plays off of his fastball," Callaway said. "It looks exactly the same. He tunnels his pitches great. It's a devastating weapon when he's got it going on."

DeGrom got 12 whiffs with the breaking pitch, including one by Francisco Mejia in the second that wobbled the rookie, buckled his left ankle and nearly caused him to fall over.

"That was probably my best slider of the day," said a smiling deGrom.

New York gave deGrom a little help on defense, too. Shortstop Amed Rosario - tied for worst among shortstops with minus-15 defensive runs saved, per FanGraphs - made two flashy plays, including a diving stop on Luis Urias' grounder to end the seventh.

"Rosie's been fantastic," Callaway said, adding "There's a lot of improvement there."

Frazier had two hits and two walks to bust out of a 1-for-18 slump. The veteran spent an hour Wednesday night watching tape of himself from earlier in his career and was in the batting cage at 7 a.m.

"Had to go back to the drawing board," he said.

Four Padres relievers combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings after the bullpen pitched five scoreless frames to close out a 7-2 win Wednesday night.

Machado had three hits and Mejia had two, accounting for all five of San Diego's hits.

BACK AT IT

About 12 hours after making several miscues in left field, the Mets' Dominic Smith was back in the outfield Thursday morning fielding line drives and grounders. A natural first baseman, Smith has been trying to learn the outfield on the fly as New York attempts to get him and All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso in the lineup. He was held out of the lineup with the left-handed Lauer on the mound.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: All-Star Jeff McNeil was held out of the lineup to rest. He pinch hit for deGrom in the seventh and grounded out.

UP NEXT

Padres: LHP Joey Lucchesi (7-5, 4.27) starts the opener of a three-game home series against San Francisco. He'll oppose RHP Jeff Samardzija (7-8, 4.08). Lucchesi is from the Bay Area and is 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA against the Giants in his career.

Mets: RHP Zack Wheeler (6-6, 4.69) is set to pitch against the Pirates, his first start since July 7 after dealing with a shoulder impingement. Wheeler has been a hot name as the July 31 trade deadline nears, and contending teams are likely to be paying close attention to his health and performance.

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