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 But Bastardo saved the Mets.
Bastardo entered the game in the eighth inning Sunday with the Mets
leading 4-3. Oh, and the bases were loaded and no one was out
following consecutive singles by Jon Jay, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp.
All Bastardo did was walk off the mound 15 pitches later with the
inning over, the bases still loaded and the Mets still leading 4-3
-- which turned out to be the winning score.
Bastardo struck out pinch-hitter Derek Norris. Then he retired
Melvin Upton Jr. on a pop fly to first baseman Lucas Duda. And he
supplied the coup d'grace by strikeout out Alexei Ramirez.
Bastardo's assortment of pitches? Fastballs.
"All fastballs," said catcher Kevin Plawecki. "I went out and asked
him if he wanted to go to anything else. He said 'fastballs.' He had
a lot of movement."
"Antonio kept the ball up and away," said Mets manager Terry
Collins. "Those are tough pitches to get on top of. And he's got
real good numbers against a couple of those guys he faced today."
 Closer Jeurys Familia then came on to retire the Padres in order in
the ninth to preserve the win for Matt Harvey (3-4). The save was
Familia's 10th of the season and second in as many games as the Mets
rebounded to win the last two games to earn a split of the four-game
series.
As the Mets celebrated the win, Padres manager Andy Green wasn't
pleased as the Padres fell to 0-10 in the final game of their 10
series this season.
"We had three chances to score with the bases loaded and didn't,"
said Green. "That's on us. Everyone takes it hard when we don't come
through in those situations. We had every opportunity to win this
game and we didn't get it done."
Before Bastardo took over, the Mets forged a 4-3 lead behind Yoenis
Cespedes' 11th homer of the season two RBI singles by Asdrubel
Cabrera and six solid innings from right-handed starter Harvey, who
allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out 10.
Harvey also scored the decisive fourth Mets run after doubling in
the sixth.
"Matt really had to grind," said Collins. "And in the fifth inning,
he could have broken down but he didn't."
The Padres scored twice in the fifth on a two-run homer by reserve
catcher Christian Bethancourt and lost both the tying run and their
starting pitcher when Andrew Cashner suffered cramps in both
hamstring when unsuccessfully trying to score from first on a double
by Jay.
Bethancourt immediately followed a one-out single by Ramirez by
rifling a Harvey pitch 434 feet for a two-run homer -- one of the
longest drives hit to straight-away left in Petco Park's 13-season
history.
 With two-out, Cashner, who also suffered the loss, struck out but
reached first when Harvey's third strike sailed past Plawecki for a
wild pitch. Jay then pulled a double into the right-field corner,
Cashner getting the green light as he approached third. The Mets'
relay from right fielder Curtis Granderson through second baseman
Wilmer Flores beat Cashner to the plate, Plawecki's tag just beating
a head-first slide by the pitcher. A video appeal "confirmed" the
call.
"I still think I was safe," said Cashner, who appeared to reach the
plate with his hand before being tagged by Palwecki. The question
seemed to be, did Cashner touch the plate. "I still think I was
safe," Cashner said a second time.
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Cashner had cramps in both hamstrings during his sprint around the
bases and departed the game four pitches into the sixth inning.
Cashner opened the sixth with two straight strikes to Mets third
baseman Eric Campbell when Bethancourt went to the mound to consult
to with the right-hander. After Cashner's next two pitches to
Campbell were balls, Bethancourt returned to the mound and summoned
the Padres' trainer and Green.
The decision was quickly made to remove Cashner for "precautionary
reasons." "He's fine," said Green. "There are no limitations on him
moving forward."
Cashner struggled early while Harvey sailed through the first four
innings, the only hit off the Mets' right-hander being Cashner's
bunt single up the third-base line with two out in the sixth.
Meantime, the Mets scored three runs with eight hits off Cashner in
the first three innings.
New York scored twice in the second, the rally starting with a
two-out double by Plawecki, who scored on a single by Campbell.
Harvey followed with a single and Granderson walked to load the
bases ahead of Cabrera's first RBI single.
Cespedes made it 3-0 in the third with his second homer in as many
games and his 10th on the season -- a 366-foot drive to left off a
0-1 fastball from Cashner, who allowed three runs on nine hits and a
walk in five innings. The Padres turned double plays to get him out
of two jams.
After reducing the Mets lead to one, the Padres bullpen surrendered
the decisive fourth run in the top of the sixth. Harvey doubled off
the fence in center -- the ball traveling 40 feet farther than
Bartolo Colon's historic career-first homer Saturday night -- and
scored on a two-out single by Cabrera.
The Padres pulled back to within a run in the bottom of the seven on
a one-out, bad-hop double by Bethancourt, who advanced to third on a
fly to right and scored on a balk by Mets reliever Jim Henderson.
NOTES: Mets 2B Neil Walker missed Sunday's game with a sore shin,
but is expected to return to the lineup Monday. Walker sat out two
of the last three games in San Diego. ... The Padres placed 2B
Jemile Weeks on the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring strain
suffered Saturday night while running to first on a seventh-inning
bunt. INF/OF Jose Pirela flew in from Triple-A El Paso Sunday
morning to take Weeks' spot on the 25-man roster. ... The Padres now
have four middle infielders on the 15-day disabled list -- Weeks,
regular 3B Yangervis Solarte, regular 2B Cory Spangenberg and INF/OF
Alexi Amarista. Solarte, Amarista and Weeks all have hamstring
strains, while Spangenberg is out with a quad strain.
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