NEW YORK (AP) — With a terrific performance on a memorable night in Padres history, Joe Musgrove brought this home for San Diego and truly brought him to the New York Mets.
The right-hander brushed off chants of “cheaters!” After a bizarre point check by the umpires on the mound, he propelled his hometown Padres into the next round of the playoffs on Sunday with seven innings of one-hit ball, earning a 6-0 win over the listless Mets.
“He was on a mission today,” said Bob Melvin, San Diego manager.
Trent Grisham hit an RBI single and made a great catch in midfield that helped the Padres win the National League best-of-three wildcard series 2-1. Austin Nola and Juan Soto each had a two-run single.
San Diego took on the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five division series starting Tuesday, ensuring the Padres play in front of their home fans for the first time in 16 years when they return to Petco in the postseason Parking for game 3.
“I can’t wait to get back there. They deserve it,” Melvin said.
It was the fifth time the Padres had won a playoff series. They competed in a first-round matchup against St. Louis at their own stadium with no fans allowed after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before being swept into the Division Series by eventual World Series champion Dodgers.
For the Mets, a dazzling season ended with a whining at home in front of empty ranks. Baseball’s biggest donors won 101 games – the second-highest in franchise history – but couldn’t stop Atlanta in NL East after sitting at the top of the division for all but six days.
New York was up 10 1/2 games on June 1 and seven games on August 10 before finally relinquishing control last weekend. The defending World Series champion snagged his fifth straight division title and a first-round playoff bye from a head-to-head in Atlanta — and the Mets never fully recovered.
Max Scherzer was rocked in a Game 1 loss to San Diego and after New York won Game 2 behind Jacob deGrom to avoid elimination, they came up with almost nothing against Musgrove, ending with a lone goal.
No. 3 starter Chris Bassitt lasted only four innings, giving up three runs and three hits with three costly walks to batters near the end of the run.
Pete Alonso’s lead-off single in the fifth and Starling Marte’s walk to start in the seventh were the only baserunners Musgrove allowed in his first postseason start.
Robert Suarez and Josh Hader ended with perfect relief for the Padres.
“They beat us with all their might,” said Alonso.
Musgrove grew up a Padres fan in the San Diego suburbs and fielded the franchise’s first no-hitter in his second start with the team last year.
He was working on a one-hitter and warming up for the sixth inning on Sunday when Mets manager Buck Showalter came out of the dugout and spoke to first-base umpire Alfonso Marquez.
All six umps huddled together and then headed for the mound as Marquez, the crew chief, felt Musgrove’s glove, cap – even his ears – in what appeared to be looking for illegal sticky substances.
“I’ve seen him check the pitcher before,” Musgrove said. “I see, dude. They’re exhausted, they’re desperate, they’re doing everything to get me out of the game.”
Musgrove said Marquez concluded, “There’s nothing on it.”
The umpires let Musgrove continue, and he worked a 1-2-3 six that was interrupted by a pointed gesture toward the New York dugout.
“It motivated me a bit, man. That cheered me up,” he said.
Spin rate was high on all six of Musgrove’s pitches.
“We are privy to many things. I love him as a pitcher — always have,” Showalter said. “I don’t go into a lot of things.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” he added. “I have to do what is best for the New York Mets and our players.”
Fans yelled “cheaters!” at Musgrove, a member of the 2017 Houston Astros World Series Champions who was found by Major League Baseball to have illegally stolen signs to help their batsmen.
“Joe Musgrove is a man of character,” said Melvin. “I have a problem with questioning his character.”
The Astros’ cheating scandal rocked the sport. Musgrove said he was uncomfortable wearing his championship ring and wanted “one that feels deserved” with the Padres.
“I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” Milwaukee outfielder Andrew McCutchen tweeted. “Pitchers use it as a mechanism to stay locked in during play. It burns like crazy and knows why some people think it helps them, but it’s not “sticky” in any way. Buck is smart anyway. Might try to just throw him off.”
THINKING OF MR. FATHER
During batting practice, San Diego second baseman Jake Cronenworth wore an old-school Tony Gwynn number 19 T-shirt, which was a one-day giveaway at Petco Park that season.
“We have them all,” Cronenworth said. “Normally, a lot of us wear them, but I think everyone wears hoodies these days.”
However, Cronenworth thought this was a day to honor the late Padres Hall of Famers.
“It was just in my locker and I brought it with me for a reason, so I decided to wear it,” he said. “Tony was one of the best, so support us from above.”
TRAINING ROOM
Padres: All-Star 3B Manny Machado, who had an RBI single, hobbled back to the dugout after striking in the ninth inning and appeared to favor a leg. He stayed in the game.
Mets: Francisco Lindor was shaken after fouling a ball from the inside of his right knee in the fourth. As the star shortstop was being checked by a physical trainer, Showalter sauntered over to the plate, picked up Lindor’s racquet and handed it back to him. Lindor stayed in the game and struck.
NEXT
San Diego edged the first-seeded Dodgers 5-14 that season and finished 22 games behind them in the NL West.
New York will begin its spring training schedule next year with split-squad games on February 25 against Miami and Houston. The regular season opener is March 30th in Miami.
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