Major League Baseball’s first wild-card series weekend ended with just the third game: the San Diego Padres at the New York Mets.
2022 playoff roster expanded to 12 teams — four best-of-three series to determine which teams will advance to the ALDS (vs. Houston Astros) Team or New York Yankees) and NLDS (vs. Atlanta Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers).
Well, all but one wild card series ended in sweeps. The Cleveland Guards swept the Tampa Bay Rays to take on the Yankees in the next round. The Seattle Mariners swept the Toronto Blue Jays and will continue to face the Astros. The Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Warriors after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.
So who will play the Dodgers? We will find out tonight.
Follow below for start times, pitching games, predictions and starting lineups as they are announced, followed by in-game updates and post-game highlights.
MORE: Everything You Need to Know About the 2022 MLB Playoffs | The Greatest Playoffs… Ever? | Ace Ranking (ESPN+) | Brackets, Results, etc.
San Diego Padres at New York Mets (ESPN 7:07 ET)
Series 1-1
Padres Starter: Joe Musgrove (10-7, 184 K, 2.93 ERA )
Mets starter: Chris Bassett (15-9, 167 K, 3.42 ERA)
STARTING LINEUP:
PADRES
pending
METS
TBD
Notes: It all boils down to Bassitt vs. Musgrove for a chance to play in the NLDS and against the Los Angeles Dodgers. New York needs to get off to a strong start from Bassett, but the bigger question will be which version of the Mets’ lineup will play against the Padres on Sunday. In Game 1, they left eight runners at the bases, with just one run on Yu Darvish’s Eduardo Escobar solo homer. The offense in Game 2 looked completely different, with contributions from up and down the lineup, highlighted by homers from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindo. The Mets’ offense has been among the best in baseball all season, but has been underwhelming lately in crunch time.
The Padres need a strong showing from Musgrove, who started the season against the Mets, allowing four runs in 5⅓ innings in an 8-5 loss . Equally important is the bullpen. After Blake Snell dropped out of Game 2, he threw an Azerbaijan at Nick Martinez after conceding 6 walks, 5 strikeouts and 4 hits in 3⅓ innings. Alonso’s go-ahead homer and Adrian Morejon allowed 4 runs without recording an out. The Padres are 14th in baseball in bullpen ERA, while star backup Josh Hader struggled after arriving in San Diego at the trade deadline, with a 7.31 ERA in 16 innings. The Padres’ bullpen could be a major weakness in Game 3, especially if the Mets’ bat in Game 2 holds up in Game 3. –Li Jun
Our Expert Picks
Lee: Bassett recovers from stressful loss in last Sunday’s loss to Atlanta Braves Come over and get off to a good start — the Mets squeezed enough production from the top of their lineup to outscore the Padres from start to finish in a tight game.
Mets 4, Padres 2
Bradford Doolittle: Max Scherzer/Jacob Deger after Padres split Roma started, and in Musgrove’s case against Bassett, the advantage of the pitching matchup worked in their favor. What’s more, we saw the challenge Buck Showalter faced as he pieced together a high-leverage out Saturday. That happened when the Padres let Hader cool his heels and rested for Sunday. Priest 4, Metropolis 2
Alden Gonzalez: Bassitt is scheduled to pitch in New York and thrive in moments like this. All in all, he’ll ride a frenzied home crowd to a narrow victory over Musgrove. Mets 3, Padres 1
Jeff Passan: In an all-out game, I would choose the team with the best players: New York. Bassitt-Musgrove’s game was a bit of a shuffle out of the bullpen. New York is a little better, though the new Hader comes off 28 games with Edwin Diaz — the last time he played back-to-back with that many in June 2018 — against the Mets. A little scary to say. Ultimately, their roster depth prevailed. Mets 3, Padres 2
