The Sports Xchange
Jul 26, 2017
SAN DIEGO -- Yoenis Cespedes drove home the go-ahead run on a check-swing, seventh-inning triple inches inside the right field foul line and scored on a throwing error to lead the New York Mets to a 6-5 victory over the Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
Cespedes finished the night with a homer, a double and a triple in four at-bats. He had three RBIs and two runs.
Curtis Granderson started the winning rally with a one-out single against left-handed reliever Jose Torres (5-3), who was replaced by right-hander Phil Maton after retiring Asdrubal Cabrera on a fly to center.
Cespedes tried to check his swing on the 1-0 pitch from Maton but got enough of the pitch to loop it over the head of Padres first baseman Wil Myers. Granderson came around from first with the go-ahead run as the ball rolled into the right field corner.
Myers threw wildly to third on the relay from right fielder Hunter Renfroe in an attempt to get Cespedes, who scored on the error, giving New York a 6-4 lead.
Seth Lugo (5-2) got the win after allowing four runs (three earned) in six innings. Addison Reed, a product of San Diego State, got his 18th save of the season and his second in as many nights against the Padres despite allowing a run in the ninth.
The lead changed hands three times before the Padres tied it at 4 on Myers' sacrifice fly to deep center in the fifth.
Right-hander Kyle Lloyd made his major league debut as the Padres' starter some five hours after landing in San Diego from Triple-A El Paso.
Lloyd retired the first two hitters he faced before Cespedes gave the Mets a 1-0 lead on a 375-foot homer to left, his 10th of the season.
The Padres responded with two homers in the third against Lugo to take a 3-1 lead.
Renfroe opened the inning with his third 400-foot-plus homer in as many at-bats, a 405-foot drive that landed at the far end of the lower balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. building. The home run was the 20th of the season for Renfroe, who on Monday hit a blast that landed on the roof.
Manuel Margot singled with one out and scored on Rule 5 rookie Allen Cordoba's fourth homer, a 384-foot drive to left center.
The Mets began getting to the 26-year-old Lloyd in the fourth. Jay Bruce and T.J. Rivera (a swinging bunt) opened the inning with back-to-back singles. After Lucas Duda and Jose Reyes lined out, Travis d'Arnaud, the No. 8 hitter, singled home Bruce to make it 3-2.
The Mets tied the score when Granderson and Cabrera opened the fifth with back-to-back doubles. Kirby Yates replaced Lloyd and gave up a go-ahead double to Cespedes. But with Cespedes running, Bruce lined into a double play.
Lloyd, who relies on a cut fastball with a top velocity under 90 mph, allowed four runs, six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in four-plus innings. Lugo yielded eight hits, including two homers, and no walks while striking out one.
The Padres scored on the ninth on a single by Cory Spangenberg and a two-out double by Dusty Coleman -- the shortstop's first major league hit -- to pull to within a run. However, Reed retired Jose Pirela on a grounder to third to end the game and stop Pirela's 11-game hitting streak.
NOTES: The Mets are promoting RHP Chris Flexen, 23, from Double-A Binghamton to make his major league debut Thursday night in the series finale at San Diego. ... The Padres pushed the scheduled start of RHP Jhoulys Chacin back a day to Wednesday after he reported back discomfort on Monday. Chacin said he was good to go Tuesday, but the Padres had already told RHP Kyle Lloyd that he would be making his major league debut as the starter against the Mets. Lloyd was the eighth Padre to make his big league debut this season. ... Mets RHP Jacob deGrom missed by a foul tip of becoming the 82nd player in major league history (and third Met) to throw an immaculate inning (striking out the side on nine pitches) Monday night. In the first inning, deGrom struck out San Diego LF Jose Pirela, 2B Carlos Asuaje and 1B Wil Myers.