Luis Severino outperformed Dylan Cease, and the New York Mets defeated the San Diego Padres 8-3 on Thursday night in the first game of a four-game series between National League playoff contenders.
Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil each had three hits, and Mark Vientos drove in three runs for the Mets, who are now 4-0 against the Padres this season and have won six of their last nine games. The Mets had a total of 17 hits in the game.
Before this game, the Padres were tied with division rival Arizona for the top wild card spot, while the Mets were two games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final wild card position.
With their 11-4 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, the Padres have now lost two games in a row for the first time since the All-Star break. They had been 22-8 in that period.
The Padres had previously eliminated the 101-win Mets in the wild-card round in 2022 and went on to the NL Championship Series.
For the Mets, this game marked the beginning of a 10-game road trip that includes three games against the Diamondbacks.
“Winning the first game is huge for us,” Severino said. “Hopefully we continue to do that. We showed today we have a good team that can hit.
Cease is a great pitcher and we went out there and got a couple hits against him and knocked him down before seven innings. If we can do that from now on we’re going to be good.”
The Mets extended their 3-1 lead by scoring five runs in the ninth inning against Logan Gillaspie, who had been called up earlier in the day from El Paso after knuckleballer Matt Waldron was sent to the same Triple-A team.
Severino (9-6) allowed only one run and five hits in five innings while striking out five. He had just pitched his second career shutout in a 4-0 win against Miami and managed to keep the Padres in check for four innings while the Mets built a 3-0 lead.
He gave up three of his four walks in the fifth inning, along with a hit and a stolen base, but allowed only one run. San Diego loaded the bases with no outs from two walks and a single. Mason McCoy scored when Jake Cronenworth hit into a double play.
Manny Machado walked and stole second, putting runners on second and third, but Xander Bogaerts grounded out.
“We were good. Just a little trouble in the fifth inning there, walking the first guy there, the No. 9 hitter,” Severino said. “As a pitcher I can’t do that. I have to attack that guy. Bases loaded, no outs, big situation, give up one run, glad we got out of that inning.”
Severino mentioned he felt “pretty good” after pitching nine innings in his last game.
“I feel like everything was there,” he said. “Fastball command was good. Had a good cutter. Didn’t feel tired. I knew my leash was going to be a little bit shorter because of how many pitches that I threw last time. But I feel pretty good.”
Cease (12-10), who pitched his first career no-hitter against Washington on July 25, allowed three runs on a season-high nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
Cease fell behind 1-0 after two batters when Francisco Lindor and Vientos hit consecutive doubles. The Mets went up 3-0 in the fourth inning after Jesse Winker singled and Jose Iglesias doubled with one out. Winker scored on a passed ball, and Iglesias scored on Jeff McNeil’s infield single.
The Padres allowed 17 or more hits in consecutive games at Petco Park for the first time since April 8-9, 2006.
