The Mets were quiet offensively again tonight in a game where the top of the lineup did not hit much and lost 3-2 to the Padres. Nolan McLean struggled with walks but only allowed one run again.
In the second inning, Marcus Semien walked, and A.J. Ewing hit a single into right field, bouncing it off of first base. Brett Baty followed up two batters later by smacking an RBI single past second base into center field, allowing Semien to score. In the bottom of the second, Nolan McLean allowed a two-out walk to Xander Bogaerts after retiring the first five batters he saw. However, McLean assisted Jared Young in ending the inning when Miguel Andujar grounded out during the next at-bat.
In the third inning, McLean walked the leadoff hitter, Sung-Mun Song, who promptly stole second base. After Freddy Fermin bunted for a pop out, McLean threw a pitch to Fernando Tatis, Jr and stumbled, landing awkwardly. Thankfully, he was okay, but Tatis then tapped a single that bounced off of second base and angled into right field, scoring Song and tying the game. McLean allowed another two-out walk, this time to Ty France. McLean stranded both runners in the end, but his pitch count soared during the third inning.
Semien hit a ground ball to left field for a single in the fourth inning, only to be caught stealing during the next at-bat. Ewing walked and tried to steal, but Mark Vientos struck out, ending the inning, which was made confusing when Fermin threw to second base anyway.
In the fifth inning, McLean allowed a single from Song, and then a sacrifice bunt from Fermin moved Song to second base. Tatis smacked a single on a ground ball that Bo Bichette stopped from turning into an RBI, to the detriment of his left shoulder. After an injury delay and despite his obvious pain, Bichette stayed in the game. Song stayed at second base until Jackson Merrill flied out and Song moved to third. Tatis tried to steal second base, and Luis Torrens faked a throw. Song tried to steal home, as he realized what was happening too late. He turned around, but was ultimately caught stealing in a rundown with throws from Torrens to Baty to McLean. Bichette ultimately led off the top of the sixth inning with a groundout.
Semien led off the seventh inning with a home run, and Austin Warren came into the bottom of the seventh to replace Nolan McLean, who had worked the first six innings and improved his record of 100 pitches in a game to 101 pitches in a game. Warren allowed a single from Song, and sort of fell down, and Fermin capitalized immediately by hitting his first home run of the season. Tatis flied out to end the inning, but the damage was done: Padres 3, Mets 2.
In the top of the eighth, Torrens grounded out for the first out. Carson Benge lined a single into right field, and Bichette followed up with a single into center field. Unfortunately, the momentum ended there when Juan Soto hit directly to Song, who turned a double play to Bogaerts to get Benge out at second. In the top of the ninth, Ewing worked a two-out walk to bring up Vientos, who struck out to end the game with a Padres win.
The Mets will try to take the rubber game tomorrow at Petco Park, with Sean Manaea likely to take on a role against Randy Vásquez.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +22.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: Austin Warren, -38.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -16.0% WPA
Mets hitters: -34.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien hits a home run in the top of the seventh, + 20.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Fernando Tatis, Jr. singles on a ball that bounces off second base, Sung-Mun Song scores -10.7% WPA
