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 And to the struggling San Diego Padres.
DeGrom was the losing pitcher Thursday night in the opener of a
four-game series at Petco Park.
And Syndergaard (2-2) came out on the short end Friday night despite
allowing only two runs in six innings on six hits -- half of which
were by Jon Jay, who had a hand in both Padres runs.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz and four relievers combined on a three-hit
shutout -- the first of the season by San Diego pitchers -- as the
resurgent Padres scored their sixth win over their last eight games.
"Any time you square off against two pitchers like that and win, you
have to be doing something right," said Padres manager Andy Green.
"We didn't give up much, we played very good baseball."
For the second straight night, the Padres scored a run in the first
against a Mets ace. And for the second straight night, the Padres
never trailed. Over the first two games of a four-game series, the
Mets have scored in only one of the 18 innings while dropping two,
two-run decisions.
 "This is what happens in baseball," said Mets manager Terry Collins.
"When you're hot, it looks easy, but it's not. And you know there
are times when ... I thought there were a lot of positives with
Syndergaard. We gotta score him some runs."
Pomeranz (3-3) allowed one hit and three walks while striking out
five over five innings while the Padres were scoring twice on
Syndergaard.
"I wasn't as efficient tonight as I'd like to be," said Pomeranz. "I
didn't have my best stuff and I pitched into a lot of bad counts."
"Drew was in battle mode," said Green of his starter, who needed 98
pitches to complete five innings, which meant the Padres bullpen had
to work four innings.
Kevin Quackenbush worked a perfect sixth. Ryan Buchter allowed two
hits in the seventh but was bailed out by his defense. Brandon
Maurer struck out two Mets in a perfect eighth. And Fernando Rodney
closed out the shutout to pick up his eighth save -- and fifth in a
seven-game span.
On Thursday, Padres starter Colin Rea held the Mets scoreless for 6
2/3 innings. The Mets didn't get their first hit off Pomeranz until
Asdrubal Cabrera singled with two out in the fourth. Their two other
hits came in the seventh -- and that's where the Padres defense kept
the Mets off the board.
Cabrera singled off left-handed reliever Buchter with one out.
Wilmer Flores followed with a line drive into the left-field corner.
Mets' third base coach Tim Tuefel waved Cabrera home, although
Padres left fielder Melvin Upton Jr. had already reached the ball
and was starting his throw.
Upton threw a strike to shortstop Alexi Ramirez, who threw a perfect
relay to catcher Derek Norris, who tagged Cabrera out two feet shy
of the plate. Norris, however, had the ball pop out of his mitt
while trying to make a transfer for a throw drawing a replay appeal
from Collins, which was denied.
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"You know, when you talk about the transfer, you gotta try to take
the ball out of your glove and I wasn't sure Norris was doing that,"
said Collins.
The replay showed Norris, who injured his hip on the play but stayed
in the game, was trying to throw to third in an attempt to get
Flores.
Instead of having runners at second and third and one out, the Mets
were left with a runner at third and two out. Former Padres catcher
Rene Rivera popped out to end the threat.
Meanwhile, Jay scored the Padres' first run and singled home the
second.
For the second straight night, the Padres scored a first-inning run
against a Mets ace. On Thursday night, Wil Myers homered off deGrom.
On Friday night, they manufactured a run.
Jay opened the game by going the opposite way against Syndergaard,
lining a double down the left-field foul line. He moved to third
when Myers grounded out to Cabrera at short and scored on Matt
Kemp's sacrifice fly to medium-deep center. Mets center fielder Juan
Lagares had a shot at Jay, but his throw was up the third-base line.
"That was a great at-bat by Kemp," said Green. "He refused to strike
out when down in the count."
The Padres threatened to pad their lead in the bottom of the fourth
when Melvin Upton Jr. and Alexi Ramirez had back-to-back, two-out
singles and Ramirez stole second to put runners at second and third.
But Syndergaard threw a sinker past Norris for a called third strike
on the 11th pitch of a duel.
Jemile Weeks drew a leadoff walk from Syndergaard in the fifth and
stole second as pinch-hitter Jabari Blash was striking out. Jay then
lined a single to center for his third straight hit to drive home
Weeks.
NOTES: Fifty-five percent of the runs scored by the Mets this season
have come on home runs, the highest rate in the major leagues. ...
Mets RF Curtis Granderson has reached base in 37 straight road
games, the longest active streak in the major leagues. ... Padres
starting pitchers have a 1.64 earned-run average over the last eight
games against the Dodgers, Rockies and Mets -- allowing nine runs on
33 hits and 19 walks with 38 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. And over
the last 23 games, Padres starters have a 2.60 ERA.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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