SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego Padres will get a second and final chance to advance to a National League Division Series Sunday when they face the New York Mets in the decisive third game of their wild-card series in New York.
Joe Musgrove will pitch for the Padres, facing fellow right-hander Chris Bassitt.
"I'm really excited," said Musgrove, who will be pitching in the postseason for the first time since 2017 when he made seven relief appearances for the Houston Astros, including being the winning pitcher in a 13-12, 10- inning victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series.
"I was a rookie at the time, so a lot of nerves, a lot of unknowns, a little bit of fear of being the guy that didn't get the job done. I've grown a lot since then. I've experienced a lot since then."
Musgrove said he learned a lot from his catcher with the Astros, Brian McCann.
"Some of the things that he told me and talked to me about during that postseason, I wasn't able to grasp or understand until a few years later in Pittsburgh, and I started realizing some of these things that he was telling me about finding your identity as a pitcher and really understanding yourself and how much more the game opens up and how much freer you feel when you know what kind of pitcher you are and what you like to do," Musgrove said.
"I've really held onto that, that one tip he gave me, and it's really helped my career take off. So keeping those things in the back of my mind and having that long layoff and being able to get back in there now and putting some of those things to use and see what I can do."
Musgrove said he feels "really prepared."
"Done a lot of homework over the past week and a half on these guys, so I know what I want to do," said Musgrove, a 2011 graduate of Grossmont High School in El Cajon. "It just ultimately comes down to execution."
Musgrove faced the Mets once during the 2022 regular season, allowing four runs, all in the sixth inning, and five hits in 5 1/3 innings and was the losing pitcher in an 8-5 loss July 24 at Citi Field.
He was 10-7 with a 2.93 ERA during the regular season and was selected for the All-Star Game for the first time. He pitched six shutout innings in his most recent start, allowing two hits and striking out seven in a 7-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday.
"Joe's thrown well for us all year," Padres manager Bob Melvin said. "I think this team takes a lot of confidence with Joe."
Bassitt was 15-9 in the regular-season with a 3.42 ERA, setting a career high for victories in his first season in the National League after eight seasons in the American League, all but the first with the Oakland Athletics.
He was 0-2 with a 6.97 ERA against the Padres during the regular season. He allowed seven runs (six earned) and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings in a 13-2 loss at Petco Park on June 8, and two runs and on four hits in a 2-1 loss at Citi Field, striking out a season-high 11.
Bassitt allowed four runs on three hits in 2 2/3 innings in his most recent start last Sunday, a 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He was charged with the loss.
Bassitt made two starts in the 2020 postseason for Oakland with a 1-0 record and 3.27 ERA.
The Padres were 19-11 in Musgrove's 30 regular-season starts. New York was 20-10 in Bassitt's 30 regular-season starts.
The game is set to begin at 4:07 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time and will be televised by ESPN.
The winner will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League Division Series beginning Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
The Mets defeated the Padres, 7-3, Saturday night at Citi Field to even the best-of-three series at one game apiece. New York combined two singles, two walks, Jeff McNeil's two-run double and pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach's sacrifice fly for four runs in the seventh inning to increase its lead to 7-2.
Francisco Lindor homered in the first and Pete Alonso in the fifth for the Mets. Brandon Nimmo singled in Eduardo Escobar, who walked leading off New York's half of the fourth.
Trent Grisham scored all three Padres runs, homering in the third, scoring from second on Jurickson Profar's single in the fifth after walking to lead off the inning and being forced home when Manny Machado walked with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Grisham reached first when he was hit by a pitch on a full-count slider by Adam Ottavino, the third of four Mets' pitchers.
Padres starter Blake Snell allowed two runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking six.
Nick Martinez, the second of five Padres' pitchers, was charged with the loss for allowing Alonso's homer that gave New York the lead for good.
Mets starter Jacob deGrom limited the Padres to two runs and five hits over the first six innings for the victory, striking out eight and walking two in front of a crowd announced at 42,156.
"He had a good fastball early on but I think what made him effective later on was he changed what he was doing, started leaning on his slider a lot more and kept us off balance that way," Melvin said.
All-star closer Edwin Diaz entered the game in the seventh with New York leading 3-2. Diaz pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing a one-out single by Austin Nola in the seventh and walking Josh Bell with one out in the eighth.
Seth Lugo induced Josh Bell, the only batter he faced, to ground out with the bases loaded for the save.
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