This is a trend I hope does not catch on. In their first inning against the Padres at Citi Field, the NY Mets scored seven runs. That’s the biggest first inning for the Metropolitans in 13 years. In the first contest of this three game set, the Friars fell to the Mets 9-3.
New York took an early 1-0 lead after left fielder Michael Conforto hit a home run to right field in the first inning. The snowball just grew from there. In two-thirds of an inning, Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin allowed eight hits and seven runs. Righty Craig Stammen replaced Chacin at the end of the inning, but the Friars entered the second inning trailing 7-0.
The Padres got on the board in the second. Cory Spangenberg grounded out to first and Ryan Schimpf scored. In a moment of déjà vu, Austin Hedges grounded out to third and Hunter Renfroe scored. San Diego cut the deficit a bit but still trailed 7-2.
The Mets added another (not that they needed it) in the fourth inning when Conforto homered again, this time sending a solo shot 435 feet into the center field seats. The outfielder had a career high four RBI on the night.
Schimpf responded with his own solo homer in the sixth inning, but that obviously wasn’t enough to dig the Padres out of the hole.
The second game of the set is Wednesday May 24 at 4:10 p.m. PST at Citi Field.
