JAKE ’N BAKE!
DeG ROM GEM, CABRERA BLAST LE AD AMAZIN’S PAST PADRES
SAN DIEGO — Another strong pitching performance by an ace had kept the Mets ahead into the seventh inning Friday night, but that guaranteed nothing.
Enter the As-man.
Asdrubal Cabrera had spent his previous three at-bats swinging right-handed against lefty Clayton Richard, but reliever Craig Stammen’s entrance in the seventh flipped him to lefty. Cabrera smashed Stammen’s first pitch into the right-field seats for a three-run homer that gave Jacob deGrom and the bullpen oxygen in a 5-1 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
DeGrom (3-0) fired 7 ¹/3 shutout innings before Jerry Blevins, AJ Ramos and Matt Harvey finished, a day after Noah Syndergaard’s gem in St. Louis was wasted by shaky defense, an ineffective bullpen and frustration at the plate in a 4-3 loss in 13 innings.
And deGrom had fired seven shutout innings in his previous start, last Saturday in Atlanta, only to receive a no-decision following a bullpen implosion that sent the Mets to a 4-3 loss.
Overall, deGrom threw 110 pitches and allowed five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. Over his past two starts deGrom has pitched 14 ¹/3 scoreless innings with 18 strikeouts and five walks.
Harvey, in his second appearance since his reassignment to the bullpen, allowed a homer to Franchy Cordero leading off the ninth and walked Jose Pirela before escaping further trouble.
The Mets were clinging to a 1-0 lead entering the seventh before Juan Lagares reached on an infield single and struggling Jose Lobaton punched a single to center. DeGrom sacrificed Lobaton to second and Amed Rosario was retired on a grounder with the infield in. Cabrera unloaded for his fifth homer, tying him for the team lead with Yoenis Cespedes.
In the eighth, Lobaton smashed an RBI double that extended the Mets’ lead to 5-0. It came after Lagares was drilled by a pitch with two outs.
The Mets (16-8) snapped a two-game skid and can still salvage a winning road trip if they capture the final two games of this series.
Though the Padres have struggled to field competitive teams in recent seasons, this ballpark has been no picnic for the Mets, who are 10-12 here since 2012.
DeGrom escaped trouble in the fifth, after Freddy Galvis’ single put runners on first and second with one out. Before the Padres could get too excited, Austin Hedges struck out. DeGrom also struck out pitcher Clayton Richard.
DeGrom walked leadoff hitter Eric Hosmer in the fourth, but that threat was nullified when Christian Villanueva hit into a double play. The previous inning, deGrom had walked Austin Hedges, but struck out Wil Myers to end the inning.
Franchy Cordero singled leading off the second against deGrom, but was thrown out by Jose Lobaton attempting to steal second. Lobaton made a perfect throw into the sliding base runner and was credited for his third caught stealing in 10 attempts against him this season.
Todd Frazier’s RBI single in the first gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Cabrera, batting leadoff to give the Mets a righty bat atop the order against the lefty Richard, doubled before Frazier delivered for his 15th RBI of the season.
Richard entered 2-4 lifetime against the Mets with a 4.41 ERA. But he had fared better at Petco Park, going 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA against the Mets. The 34year-old Richard is only the fourth left-hander to have pitched at least 900 innings with the team, joining Randy Jones, Bruce Hurst and Dave Dravecky.