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By: Mike Fitzpatrick
Max Scherzer’s first matchup with the San Diego Padres this season sure went a lot better than his last one.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner shut down San Diego for five innings, rebounding from his 2022 postseason flop, and the New York Mets won 5-0 Monday night in a playoff rematch between National League heavyweights.
“I’m not broken,” Scherzer said, chuckling. “I know what I’m capable of when I pitch and locate.”
Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor each laced a two-run double as the Mets finally beat Yu Darvish for the first time. Eduardo Escobar added a sacrifice fly, and four relievers finished a two-hitter in the opener of a three-game series pitting two of baseball’s three biggest spenders against each other.
A clean single by Ha-Seong Kim off Scherzer (2-1) with one out in the fifth was San Diego’s only hit until the ninth. The 38-year-old right-hander struck out six and walked three in a 97-pitch outing that followed a shaky defeat in Milwaukee last week.
“I thought I took a step in the right direction. I thought I self-diagnosed that right,” Scherzer said. “I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just had to fine-tune some things.”
The Padres pounded Scherzer for four homers and seven runs over 4 2/3 innings in Game 1 of the wild-card round last October as Darvish cruised to a 7-1 victory.
San Diego took the best-of-three series at Citi Field with a one-hit shutout in Game 3, when Mets manager Buck Showalter asked umpires to check Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove for illegal substances that might be aiding his grip.
New York went home for the winter, while the Padres made a run to the NL Championship Series before losing to Philadelphia.
“It’s nice to get a win against them,” McNeil said. “They’re a really good team. We’ll probably run into them again.”
San Diego had won three straight — all in Atlanta — and six of eight overall.
“We didn’t hit the ball,” Padres slugger Manny Machado said when asked about Scherzer. “He got out of those innings. We had a chance to score and we just didn’t take advantage of it. Obviously, he made his pitches and we didn’t deliver.”
Darvish (0-1) entered 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in eight career regular-season starts against the Mets, but Brandon Nimmo got a two-out rally started with a single in the third. Lindor was hit by a pitch, and McNeil drilled a double to right.
Mark Canha doubled off Darvish to spark a three-run seventh, with New York helped by a bunt single and a slow roller that both barely stayed fair along the third-base line.
“Great job by Bill our groundskeeper,” Showalter said.
Escobar had a sacrifice fly, and Lindor doubled in two runs off reliever Tim Hill. Darvish was charged with five runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
John Curtiss, Drew Smith, David Robertson and Adam Ottavino completed New York’s first shutout of the season.
“Completely different year,” Machado said. “Max is the same guy every single day, every single outing. He’s the same guy, he’s been doing it for many years — that’s why he gets paid the big bucks.”
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
Just before the game the Mets played a video tribute to Padres pitcher Seth Lugo, who spent his first seven seasons in New York — mostly as a reliable reliever. The right-hander signed a $15 million, two-year contract with San Diego in December for a steady chance to start and is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two outings this season.
Lugo watched from the dugout and acknowledged some warm applause.
“That was really nice,” Lugo said. “That was pretty cool.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Musgrove (broken left big toe) received a cortisone shot Sunday after hurting his pitching shoulder when he landed on it making an off-balance throw during his rehab start last Thursday for Triple-A El Paso. Musgrove kept going, throwing 85 pitches in the game, and an MRI was clean. The right-hander is feeling much better, according to manager Bob Melvin, and could start playing catch again as soon as Tuesday. But it’s uncertain exactly when Musgrove will get back on a mound. “He’s behind a little bit,” Melvin said. … LHP Drew Pomeranz (left elbow flexor strain) is ready to begin a rehab assignment. … RHP Robert Suarez (elbow inflammation) is still feeling soreness and has been shut down from throwing.
Mets: RF Starling Marte was out of the lineup after leaving Sunday’s loss to Miami with a strained neck. Showalter likened it to whiplash but was hopeful Marte could be available off the bench.
UP NEXT
Padres LHP Ryan Weathers (0-0, 3.60 ERA) faces LHP David Peterson (0-1, 6.00) in the middle game of the series Tuesday night.
In other baseball news, that AP reported that the Tampa Bay Rays became the first major league team since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers to open the season with 10 straight wins, getting a solo homer from Brandon Lowe in the eighth inning to beat the Boston Red Sox 1-0 on Monday night.
The 1987 Brewers and 1982 Atlanta Braves share the major league record for the best start to a season at 13-0. The Rays are the seventh team since 1901 to begin the year with 10 or more wins.
“It’s cool to be part of it,” right fielder Luke Raley said,
Lowe homered for the third straight game, sending a 3-2, one-out pitch from Chris Martin (0-1) into the right-field stands. Lowe has nine RBIs over his last three games.
“This is the first night where it’s kind of quiet offensively,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I kind of felt like at any given moment somebody could knock one out of the ballpark. Probably the right guy with Brandon.”
Tampa Bay has outscored its opponents 76-18.
In a matchup of the AL’s top two scoring teams, pitching and defense prevailed. This was the Rays’ first win by fewer than four runs as Tampa Bay fell one short of the 1939 New York Yankees, the most recent team to win 10 consecutive games by four or more at any point in a season.
Tampa Bay opener Jalen Beeks allowed one hit over two innings, and Josh Fleming gave up one hit over the next four. After Garrett Cleavinger worked a perfect seventh, Colin Poche (1-0) worked out of bases-loaded, two-jam in the eighth by striking out Rafael Devers.
“He made some good pitches and got Rafie out,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They pitched well, we pitched well. There was good defense. Obviously we didn’t win the game but as far as the game, it was great.”
Pete Fairbanks completed the three-hitter and got his first save.
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta gave up three hits in five scoreless innings. Josh Winckowski allowed one hit in two innings.
(AP)
