THE AVENGERS
Slumping Adrian breaks out with 5 RBIs in Mets’ bounce-back rout
INFINITELY BETTER AMAZIN’S EXACT REVENGE WITH BLOWOUT OF OWN
SAN DIEGO — For one afternoon in his old stomping ground, Adrian Gonzalez resembled the beast who has spent the past decade-plus terrorizing pitchers.
The Mets had received small dosages of this from Gonzalez in his first month with the team, but Sunday he unleashed a barrage.
Gonzalez drove in five runs, complementing an acceptable start from Zack Wheeler in a 14-2 victory over the Padres at Petco Park. With two victories in three games, the Mets snapped a string of three straight series losses.
Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the seventh to break open the game for the Mets (17-9), who finished the road trip with four victories in nine games. The previously slumping Gonzalez also delivered a tworun double in the fourth. In the fifth, he hit a shot to right that was caught at the fence.
Though Gonzalez has a pedestrian .706 OPS, peripheral numbers, such as percentage of hard-hit balls, have suggested he is taking quality swings.
“The process is there and even a couple of my outs were hard hit, so it’s about doing the right things and you can’t control where the ball goes,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just take a good at-bat and what matters to me is the guys in the front office are seeing the fact that I am hitting the ball well, and really, at the end of the day, they are the only ones that matter.”
The 35-year-old Gonzalez, who played for the Padres from 2006-10, was booed by the crowd in what was his first start of the series.
Wilmer Flores has been starting at first base against lefties, and manager Mickey Callaway is planning to slice Gonzalez’s playing time even further, with Jay Bruce sprinkled into the mix at the position.
“There’s no reason I have to be the only one at first base,” Gonzalez said. “Flo has played there so there is definitely no issue. I took fly balls in right [Saturday]. It’s whatever the team needs to win.”
Todd Frazier and Jose Reyes delivered additional punches Sunday, each with a homer in the eighth, on a day the Mets produced 19 hits.
Wheeler gave the Mets a chance by allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks over five innings with nine strikeouts. The right-hander endured multiple high pitch-count innings and was removed at 95 pitches.
Nonetheless, it was a rebound performance from Wheeler, who lasted only four innings in his previous start, against the Cardinals, and surrendered four earned runs. Wheeler (2-1) has pitched to an acceptable 4.09 ERA in four starts this season, but still must prove to team officials that he is capable of consistency.
“It can always get better and that’s the goal between each start,” Wheeler said. “To go out there in the bullpen and work on stuff you need to work on whether it’s mental or physical and try to come back and do it and repeat it the next outing.
“These past couple haven’t been the best, but I have been able to get through and I feel like I’m close to being where I want to be.”
Handed a four-run lead, Wheeler scuffled through the fourth, allowing two runs on three hits. Freddy Galvis delivered a two-run single that pulled the Padres within 4-2 as Wheeler’s pitch count became an issue — he was at 62 as the inning concluded.
Employing a new “splitchange” that he developed between starts with pitching coach Dave Eiland, the right-hander survived the afternoon.
“The normal changeup is pretty much speed difference, not all that much ac- tion,” Wheeler said. “But the split dives a little bit and is more of a strikeout pitch.”
Heading to a new month, Callaway said he is pleased with his team.
“I think we played the game the right way,” Callaway said. “We saw some really good stuff, but the life from our players and the way they are playing the game I couldn’t have asked for more in this first month.”