SAN DIEGO – Elias Díaz had a pair of go-ahead hits, with his second RBI single delivering the San Diego Padres a 7-6 win over the New York Mets on a wild Monday night at Petco Park.
It was the fifth walkoff and 26th comeback win of the season for the Padres (58-49), who snapped a seven-game winning streak by the NL East-leading Mets (62-45). San Diego had immediately rallied to take the lead in the fifth inning where the teams combined for nine runs and ten hits, then responded to a game-tying home run in the ninth.
"This team's got heart of champions, and they turn it up (and) they don't give in," said manager Mike Shildt. "Sometimes you punch, sometimes you get punched... You punch back, that's what you do and that's what this club does."
Luis Arraez had a pair of hits including a two-run home run, while Manny Machado added a pair of hits and scored two runs and Xander Bogaerts had three hits, with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Bogaerts led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off recently acquired reliever Gregory Soto, then Jose Iglesias reached on a pinch hit sacrifice bunt when Soto’s throw was off the bag at second. But another sacrifice bunt cut down Bogaerts at third and a strikeout by Soto set the table for Díaz’s heroics.
"Facing a team like the Mets, this is just like postseason baseball for us. We're just trying to battle out every single inning and fortunately it worked out for us," Díaz said.
Ronny Mauricio hit a one-out home run off to knot the game off closer Robert Suarez, who blew a save for the fourth time this season but earned his third win. It was the sixth long ball of the year for the Mets third baseman, and the New Yorkers' first hit since the topsy-turvy fifth inning.
After starter Dylan Cease saw his evening end when Mark Vientos hit a grand slam, the Padres picked him up with the kind of opportunistic hitting inning that they’d been looking for.
Arraez followed up Fernando Tatis Jr’s leadoff double by turning on a fastball that came inside belt-high and blasted it off the pole in right for his sixth round tripper of the year.
"When we saw they took that lead everybody was pushing for each other in the dugout, we knew that we were not going to be out of the game that simple," Tatis said.
Machado followed up with a single and then Bogaerts doubled to chase Mets starter Frankie Montas. After reliever Huascar Brazobán got his first batter for the second out, Jake Cronenworth beat him to the bag at first after hot shot down the first base line that Pete Alonzo saved from going for extra bases, scoring Machado.
Then Bryce Johnson, who had gone 7-for-14 during the road trip, came through by hooking a low and away changeup through the right side of the infield on the ground for an RBI single. Díaz followed by whacking a first-pitch, inside 100 MPH sinker out to left center for an RBI knock.
The Padres batted around for the fourth time this season and recorded seven of their 14 hits for the game in the inning.
"We've talked about Petco park hitting and we've been able to do it fairly consistently this year, there's been times where we haven't been able to put it together, but we've re-established what our identity is," Shildt said.
"As Tatis (says), like most wisdom it's in a basic statement, 'just do what the game calls for,' and the guys are doing it. Move a runner, sac fly, middle of the field, sac bunt, safety squeeze. There's times we're gonna drive the ball out of the ballpark, we like those too, but the guys are playing the game the right way."
It was book-ended by defensive halves where Tatis made a pair of sparking defensive plays. First, he robbed Vientos of a home run with a leaping backhand grab in right center in the fourth, though the Mets’ DH got his revenge by hitting the no-doubter in the fifth. Following the offensive explosion, the Platinum Glove right fielder made a racing, sliding snag in the sixth on a short fly down the line by Mauricio.
Bogaerts had tied the game at 1-1 in the third, cashing in Machado after a hit by pitch and stolen base, then a Jackson Merrill walk.
If tonight ends up being Cease’s final start in Brown and Gold, it’ll serve as a fitting bow for the up-and-down nature of his 2025 season in the no-decision. 102 pitches, with 61 for strikes as he allowed five runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and five walks in 4 ⅔ innings while taking advantage of a strike zone from umpire Emil Jimenez that had the Mets shaking their head most of the night.
Cease had spent the majority of his start twisting and working his way through, as after a one-two-three first he was able to strand a runner in scoring position over the next three innings while allowing just a lone run on a Bretty Baty sacrifice fly in the second.
The San Diego starter took a high chop comebacker off the back of his head in the third inning off the bat of Francisco Lindor as he twisted on his followthrough and tried to make a backhand play. He stayed in the game and was able to get Juan Soto and Pete Alonso on strikeouts, with Mets manager Mets manager Carlos Mendoza getting ejected for arguing the strike zone after Soto took a called strike three.
According to Shildt, Cease will get a medical imaging as a precaution and noted that he was "clear eyed" when the two spoke after the game.
Adrian Morejon spelled Cease and pitched 1 ⅔ hitless innings with four strikeouts, as Jeremiah Estrada got an out and Jason Adam pitched a clean eighth with a strikeout.
In the second game of the series Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.84 ERA) will be the ball for the Padres as the Mets will counter with Sean Manaea (1-1, 2.19 ERA), first pitch scheduled is for 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 11:29 p.m.