SAN DIEGO — A foul night time for the Mets turned probably brutal as Paul Blackburn sat on the mound in Friday’s third inning inspecting his proper hand.
Moments earlier David Peralta smashed a 100-mph line drive that deflected off the Mets pitcher and changed into the primary out of the inning with Jose Iglesias fielding the ball and throwing to first.
Blackburn’s pitching hand, as he shielded his head, caught the brunt of Peralta’s line drive, forcing him to depart on an evening that was already value forgetting, with the Padres on his pitches nearly from the beginning.
The Mets misplaced 7-0 at Petco Park and fell 2 ½ video games behind Atlanta for the NL’s third wild card, however within the bigger image there may be the query of filling out a rotation.
Blackburn, in accordance with the Mets, departed with a contusion on the hand. Preliminary X-rays had been destructive and Blackburn will obtain a CT scan on Saturday.
“It’s undoubtedly swollen and there may be some ache in there, however I’ve full mobility in my hand,” Blackburn stated.
The Mets’ beginning pitching depth is restricted due to accidents.
Tylor Megill, who has struggled in two stints for the crew this season, is the first possibility at Triple-A Syracuse if Blackburn can’t take his subsequent flip.
However supervisor Carlos Mendoza stated he wasn’t wanting that far forward but.
“It’s too early to inform, however there’s lots of names and [Megill] is one in all them,” Mendoza stated.
Blackburn was acquired on the commerce deadline from Oakland by the Mets after Kodai Senga (calf) and Christian Scott (elbow) hit the injured listing.
Blackburn allowed 10 hits and 5 earned runs over 2 ¹/₃ innings.
Luis Arraez homered main off the sport towards him and Kyle Higashioka delivered a two-run blast towards him within the second.
“The great pitches I made received hit and I assumed the dangerous pitches I made received hit,” Blackburn stated. “It was simply a type of days I felt I used to be looking for something to create some swing and miss … all and all simply not good.”
The Mets dug into their bullpen after Blackburn’s departure, with Ryne Stanek pressed to pitch 1 ²/₃ innings through which he allowed one earned run.
Danny Younger labored the following two innings scoreless and Adam Ottavino labored the seventh and eighth and surrendered one run.
All of the whereas, Joe Musgrove — who dominated the Mets in Recreation 3 of the 2022 NL wild-card collection at Citi Subject — was near untouchable.
The fitting-hander allowed only one hit over seven shutout innings with 9 strikeouts.
Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor accounted for the Mets’ solely two hits, each with doubles.
“We had a tough time selecting up [Musgrove’s] breaking ball, the spin,” Mendoza stated. “However the cutter and the situation, he was on at the moment.”
The Mets missed a possibility to maneuver seven video games above .500, which might have matched their season excessive.
There are nonetheless eight video games remaining on this highway journey, with the scorching Diamondbacks awaiting after the Mets end their collection with the Padres on Sunday.
David Peterson and Jose Quintana are the beginning pitchers the following two days because the Mets look to get better from Friday night time’s shellacking.
The Mets gained Thursday’s collection opener with sturdy bullpen work and late-inning offense.
Blackburn on this night time allowed three hits within the first inning, falling right into a 1-0 gap on Arraez’s homer main off. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts every singled within the inning, however Blackburn escaped by retiring Jackson Merrill.
Peralta singled main off the second and Higashioka’s homer gave the Padres a 3-0 lead.
However the Padres ignited one other rally within the inning towards Blackburn, with singles by Mason McCoy, Arraez and Jake Cronenworth, the final of which prolonged the Mets’ deficit to 4-0.
Machado singled for the Padres’ sixth hit of the inning earlier than Blackburn struck out Bogaerts for the ultimate out.
Merrill’s grounder to first base main off the third ought to have been the primary out, however in an obvious miscommunication with Blackburn masking the bag, Pete Alonso stored the ball and was crushed to the bottom.
Peralta’s shot off Blackburn’s hand adopted.
“I simply went into protection mode there and sort of deflected it,” Blackburn stated.
The Mets didn’t get a base runner till the fifth, after Musgrove had retired the primary 13 batters he confronted: Marte smashed a double to proper discipline, however was left stranded.
It turned out to be the Mets’ solely base runner till the ninth, when Lindor doubled with two outs.
