San Diego saw their string of series without a loss end at seven, as the Padres were unable to take advantage of early free pass opportunities, and, despite a late push fell 4-2 to the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
Fernando Tatis Jr. continued to come up with big plays in Queens, doubling in the lone run for the Padres (68-60) and holding the deficit at one with an outfield assist catching Francisco Alvarez trying to score from second to end the seventh. But Carson Benge’s two-run home run put the Mets (58-70) ahead, who dealt Michael King a hard-luck loss despite making his 13th start allowing four or fewer hits.
But after converting on 4-of-9 RISP opportunities in the first two games of the series, the Brown and Gold stranded seven and got just two hits in 1s chances with men in scoring position, and the bullpen allowed a pair of runs in the eighth inning.
A one-out single by Luis Rengifo and a walk by Luis Campusano gave the Padres life in the ninth, as Gavin Sheets roped a pinch-hit RBI single to right field. Then another pinch-hitter, Austin Hays, grounded it up the middle for a game-ending six-three double-play.
The offense had stirred in the fifth inning, getting a leadoff double from Xander Bogaerts and then Tatis driving him in with a two-bagger off the base of the wall in left-center field. It chased Mets starter Robert Stock, a former Padre who had opened his MLB career in brown and gold as part of 42 appearances across 2018 and 1019.
That would be all, as after reliever Jonathan Pintaro walked Jake Cronenworth, a double-play ended the inning with the Padres trailing 2-1.
It had been one of the most efficient openings to a start this season for King, as he needed just 20 pitches to get through the first two innings and 31 to get through three.
But the fourth was when the Mets got to the Padres starter, as Bo Bichette drew a full-count walk with two down and then Benge poked a two-run home run just over the fence down the left field line at 356 feet for his 15th home run. It could’ve been worse, as A.J. Ewing led off with a single, but Francisco Lindor bounced into a Bogaerts-to-France double play.
King did not allow another Mets runner aboard until the seventh, retiring seven in a row before Benge led off with a single. A two-out walk to pinch hitter Luis Robert Jr. ended his afternoon.
Jeremiah Estrada took over and on his third pitch Marcus Simien singled to right field, which brought Tatis up throwing and getting Alvarez out at home, which stood after review despite a tremendous effort on the swim slide at the plate.
King finished with 6 2/3 innings pitched, scattering four hits while allowing two runs with four strikeouts and two walks, falling to 8-9 on the season.
The Mets added on in the eighth, taking advantage of a one-out Ewing walk and a Lindor single. Then Bichette hit a grounder to short that Sung-Mun Song charged to field, but threw wide of the bag at second for an error that allowed a run to score and put men on second and third.
That ended Estrada’s afternoon, as Yuki Matsui was able to get a fielder’s choice to Cronenworth with the infield in to cut down Lindor at home. But a low-and-away slider got slapped up the middle for an RBI single by Jared Young, as two of the inherited runners came across.
San Diego let men in scoring position chances go by the wayside in each of the first two innings, leaving men on first and second in the opening inning with a strikeout. Then in the next inning Campusano walked and Bogaerts got hit by a pitch with one out, but a fly-out and a line-out ended that threat.
It took the Padres until the fifth to get a hit against Stock, who made his fourth start of the year and just his sixth appearance since being out of the Majors for the 2022 through 2024 seasons. All of their base runners prior had come on walks or the one HBP.
The road trip ended at 3-3.
Prior to the game San Diego held a 2.0 game lead for the third and final NL Wild Card, with last-team-out Arizona looking to avoid a three-game sweep in Boston. St. Louis, who entered the day behind by 3.0 games, will be looking to extend their winning streak to five games and play their third of a four-game set at Cincinnati.
The Padres are set to return home for a six-game home stand, beginning with three against the Minnesota Twins, who are also in the midst of a tight Wild Card chase. Neither side has named their expected starter for the first game at 6:40 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21 at Petco Park. After that, it’s three against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the opener of that set at 6:40 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 24.