NEW YORK (KGTV) — The San Diego Padres fell to the New York Mets 7-3 in Game Two Saturday night, leading to a tie in this National League Wild Card Series.
Sunday's game will decide the outcome of the series, with the winner advancing to an NLDS showdown against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mets ace Jacob deGrom held San Diego to two runs in six innings pitched, tossing eight strikeouts along the way.
One of those runs came in the form of a Trent Grisham home run in the top of the third. Grisham's bat has been a boon for San Diego in this series, as he also went yard against Max Scherzer in Game One.
Grisham was responsible for another early San Diego run as well, scoring off of a Jurickson Profar single in the fifth inning.
The Mets forced a high pitch count for Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell early on; he threw 90 pitches before he was pulled after just 3.1 innings.
After scoring three runs through six innings, the flood gates opened for New York in the bottom of the seventh. The Mets exploded with four runs, giving them enough run support to confidently cruise to victory.
Jeff McNeil hit a two-RBI double to open the scoring in the frame for the Mets. Following that, a single and sacrifice fly led to two more runs, extending New York's lead to 7-2.
In the ninth, Mets pitcher Adam Ottavino did his best to give the Padres a chance back in the game, hitting a batter and walking three more before getting yanked from the game. When Ottavino needed just one more out, he walked Manny Machado with bases loaded, leading to another run for Grisham.
The five-run hole still proved to be insurmountable for the Padres' bats. Seth Lugo sealed the deal for the Mets, retiring Josh Bell to end the game.
Game Three begins at 4:07 p.m. PDT Sunday and will air on ESPN. The Padres and Mets will take center stage, since their series is the only one going the three-game distance.
The NLDS begins Tuesday, Oct. 11.
