NEW YORK – With a masterful performance on a memorable night in Padres history, Joe Musgrove answered his native San Diego and tamed the New York Mets.
Musgrove flicked the cries of a “cheater” from the stands, after Strange review from the referees down the hill, and led Padres to the next playoff round with a 6-0 victory over the Mets on Sunday.
He only allowed one hit over seven rounds as his hometown team won 2-1 in the best three NL wild card series.
Trent Gresham was a solo RBI and did a thrilling hunt in the center field. Austin Nola and Juan Soto added singles that led on two tours.
San Diego advances to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five-team series starting Tuesday. The Padres secured a home game in front of their fans in the post-season for the first time in 16 years when they returned to Petco Park for Game 3.
“We know. We would like the fans to be able to watch some of the post-season games,” coach Bob Melvin said on Sunday afternoon. “To some extent, we feel they are part of us.”
With Musgrove in control in the sixth inning, Mets manager Buck Showalter asked the umpires to check on the right hand. Spinning speed rose on all six of his throws. After Showalter entered the field, Alfonso Marques – the chief umpire – rubbed Musgrove’s ears and picked up his hat and glove.
Musgrove got the go-ahead to continue promoting.
“I see,” Musgrove. “They were dying, they were desperate. They were trying to do everything to get me out of the game at that point. That’s what it is.”
“It ended up motivating me,” he added.
This was the fifth time that Padres had won a playoff series. They played a first-round match against St. Louis in their own stadium without fans after the 2020 season that cut short the coronavirus pandemic before they were swept away by the World Championship champions, the Dodgers in the First Division.
For the Mets, a lively season at home is over. The biggest payroll spender in Major League Baseball won 101 games—the second most in franchise history—but couldn’t hold out against Atlanta in the NL East after leading the division for just six days.
“Our goal was to win the World Championship and we failed,” said Max Scherzer, the champion who joined the Mets’ rotation by signing a three-year, $30 million contract.
Scherzer was crushed in Game 1 loss to San Diego and New York won Game 2 with Jacob Degrom on the hill to stay alive. But they couldn’t do anything against Musgrove.
Chris Bassett’s third start lasted only four rounds, allowing three on three hits, as well as three costly walking rounds for lower-ranked hitters.
In his first playoff, Musgrove only allowed two runners to make it to base: Pete Alonso driving one from fifth and then walking to Starling Marte ahead of seventh.
“He totally dominated us,” Francisco Lindor Shortstop said.
Robert Suarez and Josh Hader completed the Padres mission with complete satisfaction.
For Padres, Dominican Juan Soto 4-2 with two RBIs.
For the Mets, the Dominican Starling Mart 3-0. Puerto Rican Francisco Lindor 3-0, Tomas Nido 3-0. Venezuela’s Eduardo Escobar 3-0.