Mets Season Ends With Wild-Card Loss to Padres

Had the Mets simply won one more game during the regular season, they would have been in a better position entering the postseason. But they collapsed down the stretch.

The Mets led their division, the N.L. East, for the entire season except six days, most of them at the end. After a slow start, defending World Series champion Atlanta swept the Mets during the final weekend of the regular season, took possession of the division lead and won the season series to gain the tiebreaker. So even though both teams finished with 101 wins, Atlanta earned a first-round bye to the best-of-five division series and the Mets had to play in the wild-card round. And three days into the postseason, the Mets were done.

From the start of Sunday’s game, the Mets were in trouble. Bassitt, a right-hander, was the perfect matchup for the Padres, who struggled to consistently produce offense during the season, especially against hard-throwing pitchers. Against pitches of at least 94 miles per hour, the Padres posted a .346 slugging percentage, the third worst in baseball this season. They did much better against lower speeds.

Over his 181 ⅔ innings during the regular season, Bassitt averaged 93 m.p.h. on his fastball and relied on a repertoire of six different pitches to neutralize batters. On Sunday, he averaged between 92 and 93 m.p.h., and the Padres took advantage.

Josh Bell, the Padres’ first baseman, singled to lead off the second inning. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and center fielder Trent Grisham each walked with two outs to load the bases. After fouling off three pitches, catcher Austin Nola cracked a two-run ground ball single to left field for a 2-0 Padres lead.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/sports/baseball/mets-padres-wild-card-game-3.html