Padres beat Scherzer, beat Mets in playoff opener

NEW YORK (AP) — After beating Max Scherzer in a stunning romp, the San Diego Padres are halfway home in the wildcard round.

Josh Bell and Manny Machado hit two of San Diego’s four home runs against an ineffective scherzer, and the Padres blew out the New York Mets 7-1 in their playoff opener on Friday night.

“This isn’t a game you typically see Max play, so we were lucky,” said manager Bob Melvin.

Yu Darvish knocked out the Mets again, and San Diego also got long balls from lead batter Jurickson Profar and collapsing Trent Grisham against Scherzer — who was booed off the mound in the fifth inning at Citi Field.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner finished his first postseason start for New York 7-0, a massive disappointment after Scherzer signed a $130 million deal in December to line up big games for his new team .

“Baseball can take you to the highest highs and the deepest lows, and this is one of the deepest lows,” Scherzer said.

San Diego needs an away win in the next two days to win the National League’s best-of-three wildcard series and face the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers.

Blake Snell starts Saturday night’s Game 2 against struggling Mets ace Jacob deGrom.

“Each game in a three-game series feels monumental,” Melvin said.

After winning 101 regular-season games, the second-most in franchise history, the Mets are suddenly on the brink after falling flat in front of a sold-out crowd in their first playoff game since 2016.

“We were really good and now we can see what we’re made of,” said slugger Pete Alonso, who hit in the first two playoff at-bats of his career — including with runners at corners and an out in the first inning.

Eduardo Escobar homed and doubled for Darvish, who has won all three starts against New York this year with an .86 ERA.

The star right-hander from Japan, who is coming off a 16-win season, was September’s NL pitcher of the month and picked up right where he left off. He squirmed out of trouble early when the game was still competitive, then set about throwing seven innings, six hits without a walk to earn his first postseason win in five years.

Darvish is 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in eight regular-season starts of his career against the Mets, including 3-0 at Citi Field.

“We’re getting pretty spoiled,” Melvin said, noting that Darvish “invents playing fields” on his outings. “It’s kind of a typical Yu Darvish game.”

The 38-year-old Scherzer also lost a crucial game in Atlanta last weekend, giving up nine hits — including two homers — and four runs over 5 2/3 innings. He missed about nine weeks this season during two stints on the injury list with left oblique injuries, but finished 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA and said Thursday he was perfectly healthy.

Scherzer had little bite on his pitches, however, and the Padres took advantage. Bell started a two-run homer in the first in his first postseason appearance and turned his stick over after his first home run since September 6.

“I kind of passed out,” Bell said. “I felt like I was on a cloud.”

Grisham, who hit eighth after hitting .107 from Sept. 1, connected for a solo shot in the second.

“Hopefully that gets him going,” Melvin said.

Profar made it 6-0 with a three-run drive in fifth that stuck just inside the foul pole in right field, and Machado sent a laser over the fence in left field two batters later.

“My fastball ran towards me,” said Scherzer. “If my fastball is flat and then running, I usually get hit a lot. Apparently I was badly beaten tonight.”

POWERFUL MAX

It was the fourth time Scherzer had given up four home runs in a game, his career high. The seven runs marked the maximum he has allowed in 27 postseason games (22 starts).

It was also the most runs allowed by a Mets pitcher in the postseason. The only other major league pitcher to give up four homers and seven runs in a postseason game was Cincinnati rookie Gene Thompson in the 1939 World Series against the New York Yankees.

TRAINING ROOM

Padres: Darvish was visited on the mound by Melvin and an athletic trainer who followed Escobar’s double in the seventh but stayed in the game. “He had a little blister on his foot,” Melvin said. … After not feeling well in recent days, RHP Mike Clevinger was dropped from the series’ roster to bring LHP Sean Manaea into the bullpen instead.

Mets: All-Star RF Starling Marte batted sixth, going down 2 for 4 in his first game from a broken middle finger on his right (swinging) hand. He was injured on September 6 when he was hit by a pitch in Pittsburgh. With his middle finger wrapped, Marte received a loud ovation during the pre-game introduction. He landed a single down the middle that led to second, and then stole second and third – slipping headfirst into both bases.

NEXT

Snell (8-10, 3.38 ERA) has a 2.53 ERA in his last 17 starts, allowing for a run or less in 13 of them. The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner was 1-1 with the Mets in two games this season.

Meanwhile, deGrom (5-4, 3.08) is 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA in his last four starts.