The Mets‘ spectacular 2022 campaign came to a disappointing conclusion with a whimper on Sunday evening. The Mets failed to deliver on the promise of their 101-win regular season when they faced a critical Game 3 against the San Diego Padres in the wild-card round. They struggled both at the bat and on the mound, and they earned the ire of their opponent along the way.
The starting pitcher for the Mets, Chris Bassitt, was unable to overcome the Padres’ lineup, which resulted in the team’s 6-0 defeat. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that his teammates managed to get a hit, and it was the Mets’ sole hit of the game. Buck Showalter, the manager of the Mets, had his offence kept in check all night by the All-Star starter for the Padres, Joe Musgrove. In the sixth inning, Showalter requested the umpires to inspect Musgrove, whose ears were glossy, for a foreign material because Musgrove’s ears were shiny.
Musgrove pointed toward the dugout of the opposing team after getting Tomás Nido, the catcher for the Mets, to strike out for the second out of the inning. After the final out was recorded by the fly ball hit by Mets centre fielder Brandon Nimmo, Musgrove strolled back toward his dugout while cupping his left ear. Manny Machado, the star third baseman for the Padres, seemed to be waving his arms toward the crowd as if to call for additional support as the fans jeered at him.
It did not make a difference whether or if the drug test was just a ploy to win the game. Musgrove, who went seven shutout innings while allowing just one hit and one walk, and the Padres seemed completely unaffected by the situation. They were able to finish off the victory and go on to the next round, where they will compete against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are the finest club in baseball and have won a franchise-record 111 games throughout the regular season.
However, despite having the largest salary in Major League Baseball at $288 million, the Mets were unable to beat Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove in their respective games on Friday and Sunday. Max Scherzer, the Mets’ ace pitcher, had the worst start of his career in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Meanwhile, Bassitt, who had a 3.42 earned run average during the regular season, allowed three runs over the course of four innings.
The Mets were in first place in their National League East division for all but six days of the season, the majority of which came at the very end. After getting off to a sluggish start, the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves swept the New York Mets during the last weekend of the regular season. As a result, the Braves seized sole ownership of the division lead and won the season series, which gave them the advantage in the tiebreaker. Consequently, despite the fact that both clubs ended with 101 victories, Atlanta was granted a first-round bye in the best-of-five division series, while the Mets were required to compete in the wild-card round. The Mets were eliminated from the playoffs after three days of play.
First baseman for the Padres, Josh Bell, started the bottom of the second inning off with a single. Shortstop With two outs remaining, Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham, who was playing centre field, both walked to put runners on first and second. Austin Nola, the catcher for the Padres, walked off three pitches before hitting a two-run single to left field with a ground ball.
The Padres continued working at Bassitt, nibbling away at him slowly while also continually calling timeouts, maybe to throw off his timing. Following a walk with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Kim stole second base to get into a position where Grisham may potentially score. Grisham was jeered as he came up to the bat, but he was able to hit a cutter from Bassitt for a single, which gave the Padres a 3-0 lead and quieted Citi Field.
During the course of the regular season, Grisham’s batting average was.184, which indicates that he was a below-average hitter. He hit home runs in Games 1 and 2 of the series against the Mets, drove in runs in all three games, and played solid defence throughout the series.
After four innings had been played, David Peterson, a left-handed pitcher, came in to replace Bassitt in the starting lineup of the game. A single by left fielder Jurickson Profar, a sacrifice bunt by right fielder Juan Soto, and a run-scoring single by Machado gave the Padres a 4-0 lead. The Padres continued their pattern of previous at-bats against him. In the eighth inning, Soto drove in two runs with a single against Diaz, which put the game farther out of reach.
The Mets didn’t do much of anything at the bat throughout the game. Alonso had their first and lone hit of the night to start off the bottom of the fifth inning. After Starling Marte made the final out of the game by grounding the ball to Machado against Josh Hader, the Mets stood in stunned silence on the field as the Padres celebrated their victory. A season that had first seemed to be unique was cut short.
