We all knew it was coming; there was no way Noah Syndergaard could have eclipsed the performance he had showcased in his last outing against the Philadelphia Phillies. Pure dominance not only on the mound, pitching 7.1 shutout innings and striking out six, but also at the plate where he went 3-3 with an astounding 430 ft home run. Tuesday night in San Diego? A bit of a different outcome as Will Venable, Derek Norris, Alex Amarista and the San Diego Padres got to him early, knocking Thor down from Asgard before the 5th inning in the 7-2 rout.
It was the New York Mets, though, that jumped on struggling Ian Kennedy first. Michael Cuddyer singled to center field with two outs in the top of the 1st inning, scoring Ruben Tejada and giving the Mets a very early 1-0 lead. But this would be the only time the Mets would lead all game.
The Padres would load the bases in the bottom of the 2nd inning and Alex Amarista hit a soft bouncing grounder back to Syndergaard on the mound where it tipped off from his glove and rolled into right field, subsequently bringing home both Yonder Alonso and Will Middlebrooks. Will Venable later in the inning tripled home both Cory Spangenberg and Amarista putting the Padres in front 4-1 after two innings.
San Diego then pushed the lead out of reach. Cory Spangenberg tripled home Yonder Alonso on a play where he was originally called out at third base before Alonso could score but after a challenge by Padres' manager Bud Black, replayed showed Spangenberg had slid under Tejada's tag at third. Derek Norris later hit a two-run home run to left field off from Syndergaard and the Padres had a comfortable 7-1 lead going into the 5th inning.
Noah Syndergaard was finished after the 4th inning and he received the loss, but his scoreline was something that had only happened once in the history of MLB - the night before by Padres' pitcher Andrew Cashner. Syndergaard had given up 10 hits but he also had struck out 10 San Diego hitters. Never before, until Cashner did it the previous night, had a starting pitcher given up double-digit hits, struck out double-digit batters and lasted fewer than five innings. Even though they lost, both Cashner and Syndergaard are immortalized in baseball history as the first pitchers to ever accomplish this.
San Diego's starting pitcher Ian Kennedy had a different kind of night which he desperately needed. Kennedy going into Tuesday night's contest was 2-5 with a +7.00 ERA and hadn't won a game since May 6th. He was able to hold the Mets' hitters in check through six strong innings giving up six hits, two earned runs, two walks while striking out eight.
After the game New York Mets manager Terry Collins indicated on how Kennedy has always seemed to have the Mets number. "You look at his numbers against the Mets over his career, he's been tough. We just never get him squared up very good."
The New York Mets and San Diego Padres will finish up their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 9:10 PM EST as Dillon Gee (0-2 3.86 ERA) will get his first start since the groin injury for the Mets against James Shields (6-0 3.69 ERA) and the Padres.