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 The game was decided in walk-off fashion as pinch runner Cameron
Maybin scored from third with two outs in the ninth when Mets
left-handed reliever Josh Edgin stumbled while fielding a grounder
between the mound and first off the bat of left fielder Seth Smith.
For most of the game, however, the focus was on Padres right-hander
Odrisamer Despaigne, who didn't allow a hit until Mets second
baseman Daniel Murphy sliced a double to right-center with two outs
in the eighth inning.
Despaigne tied the fifth-longest no-hit bid in the history of the
Padres, who have never had a no-hitter since the franchise was born
of expansion in 1969.
"I thought today might be the day," Padres manager Bud Black said.
"I'm always hopeful we're going to get one. Once you get past the
sixth, you start thinking about it. The dugout changed in the middle
of the sixth."
Despaigne, a 27-year-old Cuban who signed a minor league contract
with the Padres on May 2, throws four pitches from a variety of
angles and velocities.
Before Murphy doubled in the eighth, Despaigne struck out pinch
hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis on a 66 mph curveball, then got right
fielder Curtis Granderson swinging on a 74 mph changeup.
"Despaigne made it tough the way he varied his speeds and delivered
his pitches," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He pitched. So did
our guy."
That would be right-hander Zack Wheeler, who made one mistake in six
innings.
For the second consecutive game, catcher Yasmani Grandal put the
Padres on the board with a solo home run to the deepest point of
Petco Park -- a 418-foot drive over the fence in right-center on a
very low, full-count fastball from Wheeler. On Saturday night,
Grandal hit a 440-foot homer in the same direction.
The Padres held onto that one-run lead until one pitch after Murphy
broke up the no-hitter. Third baseman David Wright followed with a
single off Despaigne that tied the score at 1-1. After first baseman
Lucas Duda's single off left-handed reliever Alex Torres gave the
Mets a third straight hit, right-hander Kevin Quackenbush threw a
called third strike past catcher Travis D'Arnaud to end the inning.
"I felt great with all my pitches today," said Despaigne, through
interpreter Grandal, of his fifth major league start. "At the
beginning of the game, I didn't think about the no-hitter. Later I
did, but because I have never thrown a no-hitter, it wasn't
something I thought about a lot."
Despaigne said he was concentrating more on throwing his variety
of pitches to Mets hitters.
"I don't like throwing the same pitch at the same speed from the
same spot more than one time in a game," he said.
At one point, when Despaigne dropped in a 65 mph curve to Bobby
Abreu for a strike, the Mets left fielder jokingly told Grandal and
plate umpire Chris Guccione, "That's cheating."
Despaigne allowed one run on two hits and three walks with five
strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings. He also hit two batters.
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After negotiating six innings on only 74 pitches, Despaigne needed
27 pitches to get out of a seventh that saw him load the bases on a
hit batter and two walks. He retired shortstop Ruben Tejada to get
out of that jam.
Murphy's double came on the 118th of Despaigne's 123 pitches. The
most he threw in four previous major league starts was 110.
Despaigne is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA. He has allowed 20 hits and 11
walks while striking out 17 in 34 1/3 innings.
Wheeler allowed one run on eight hits and a walk with seven
strikeouts over six innings.
Right-hander Joaquin Benoit (4-2), who took over the closer role for
the Padres on Friday night when Huston Street was traded to the Los
Angeles Angels, pitched a perfect ninth to pick up the win.
Pinch hitter Carlos Quentin opened the bottom of the ninth by
drawing a walk from right-hander Vic Black (2-3). Maybin moved to
second when Black failed to field Alexi Amarista's sacrifice bunt
for an error, but third baseman Chase Headley grounded into a double
play.
Edgin was summoned from the bullpen to face the left-handed-hitting
Smith, and he apparently did his job by getting the Padres' leading
batter to hit a soft grounder between the mound and first. However,
Edgin fell and rolled over while fielding the ball, then made a late
and weak toss in a failed effort to get Smith to end the inning.
Smith was credited with a RBI single.
"That can't happen," Edgin said.
NOTES: The Mets and Padres split six games this season, with each
winning two of three on their home turf. ... The Padres are 24-13
all-time against the Mets at Petco Park, their best record against
any team. ... After winning four straight and eight of their
previous nine games, the Mets dropped two in a row to the Padres.
... San Diego 1B Yonder Alonso (right wrist tendinitis), 2B Jedd
Gyorko (left foot plantar fasciitis) and SS Everth Cabrera (left
hamstring strain) all will be rehabbing with Triple-A El Paso
starting Monday. ... OF Michael Conforto, the Mets' first-round
draft pick, went 1-for-4 in his professional debut Saturday night
with short-season Class A Brooklyn. ... The Mets are 14-21 in
one-run decisions.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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