Edwin Diaz provides up walk-off homer, Mets bullpen lets lead slip in 3-2 loss to Padres

The Mets obtained an enormous bounce-back begin from Jose Quintana and a pair of solo dwelling runs, however the bullpen couldn’t defend the lead and Edwin Diaz allowed a walk-off dwelling run in a 3-2 defeat to the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Diaz, pitching in a tie sport within the ninth, noticed a one-out, 2-0 slider hover over the center of the plate and rookie Jackson Merrill hammered it 379 ft to proper to finish the sport

New York fell to 68-63 on the 12 months with the four-game cut up in San Diego and failed to select up a sport on Atlanta, who misplaced earlier on Sunday to Washington. The Mets are nonetheless 2.5 video games behind the Braves for the ultimate wild-card spot within the NL.

Listed here are the takeaways…

– Quintana, after posting a 9.19 ERA in his final three begins, allowed a leadoff infield single on a gradual curler to 3rd, however a pair of groundouts, together with his Fifteenth double-play of the 12 months, obtained him by way of the primary.

Manny Machado launched a double to the hole in left-center to start out the second, however Quintana obtained a pair of groundouts and a pop-up to strand the runner.

Quintana didn’t permit one other runner till he walked Machado with two down within the fourth, pitching across the slugger to get a lefty-on-left matchup towards Jake Cronenworth (.203 common and .532 OPS towards southpaws). Quintana obtained an inning-ending grounder to get 4 scoreless frames on 52 pitches.

After a leadoff single within the sixth, Quintana began dotting his fastball for a strike to get by way of the body. He stayed in to face Machado to guide off the seventh and obtained stung for a protracted single off the wall in left discipline. After a one-out stroll, Jose Butto was summoned from the bullpen with the go-ahead runner on the plate.

Butto, going through pinch-hitter Luis Arraez, fell behind 3-0 earlier than getting a flyout to the monitor in heart. Pinch hitter David Peralta simply missed doubles on two pitches, smacking a pair of balls simply foul down the third and first bottom line. However on a 2-2 supply, Merril was caught attempting to steal second base when he overslid the bag and Lindor stored the tag on him to finish the risk.

Quintana’s ultimate line: 6.1 innings, 4 hits, no runs, two walks on 95 pitches (57 strikes).

– Butto, who struggled with the strike zone within the seventh, issued a one-out stroll within the eighth to the Padres’ No. hitter after which grooved a 2-2 belt-high sinker over the center of the plate to Jurickson Profar who hit a game-tying two-run dwelling run to proper discipline.

After a two-out infield hit, Carlos Mendoza put in Phil Maton, who obtained Macahdo on a grounder to 3rd to ship it to the ninth with the rating tied.

– J.D. Martinez homered twice within the collection towards Baltimore, however these had been his solely two hits of the week as he entered Sunday in a 2-for-23 skid and hitless in his final 11 at-bats. Naturally, the 37-year-old shot a single for a one-out single within the second.

And with two down within the fourth, Martinez obtained a thigh-high sinker and smashed it 427 ft to heart (110.6 mph off the bat) for his Fifteenth-round tripper of the season to provide the Mets a 1-0 lead.

– After the homer, Jose Iglesias, Luis Torrens and Harrison Bader all labored walks to load the bases and the Padres known as on Bryan Hoeing from the bullpen. However after hitting a grand slam on Saturday, Francisco Lindor went down swinging on a splitter within the grime to strand three.

– The Mets obtained one thing cooking within the fifth as Pete Alonso dumped a single into proper and Brandon Nimmo adopted with an infield single down the primary bottom line. However Starling Marte and Martinez each went down swinging at low and away splitters.

By 5 frames New York left eight runners on base and had been 0-for-3 with RISP.

– Mark Vientos, who has been engaged on going the opposite approach, obtained a excessive fastball and drove it 432 ft to proper heart (106.8 mph) to double the Mets’ benefit with one out within the seventh.

Vientos’ solo shot accounted for the Mets’ solely base runner to succeed in between the sixth and ninth and got here in the midst of 14 of 15 Mets being retried, with eight by the use of the strikeout, to finish the sport.

– Iglesias made an excellent defensive play within the sixth when he managed to lung again to his left to discipline a sizzling shot up the center as he went to cowl second on a steal try, kicking out his leg to the touch the bag for a fielder’s selection.

Highlights

MVP of the Recreation: Jose Quintana

The left-hander put up an enormous bounce-back begin that the Mets sorely wanted, getting first-pitch strikes to fifteen of 24 batters and 12 floor ball outs.

What’s subsequent

The Mets have Monday off as they journey to the desert for a three-game set with the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks, winners of six in a row and are 25-8 (.758) for the reason that All-Star break.

Left-hander Sean Manaea (3.48 ERA and 1.168 WHIP in 137 innings) will get the ball for the series-opener on Tuesday night time, 9:40 p.m. EDT first pitch. Manaea has been sizzling of late, going 7 innings in 4 of his final 5 outings and pitching to a 2.61 ERA over his final 31 innings with 37 strikeouts.

The D-backs are beginning a southpaw of their very own as Eduardo Rodriguez (3.94 ERA and 1.250 WHIP over 16 innings). The lefty, who missed most of his first season with Arizona as a consequence of a shoulder ailment, is making simply his fourth begin of the 12 months.