
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 16: Dylan Cease #84 of the San Diego Padres reacts during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
Usually, Dylan Cease is a great guy to put on the mound if you're trying to avoid a sweep. But, he and the Padres took the struggle bus from the team hotel to Citi Field this weekend.
Cease got shelled, allowing seven runs in 3.2 innings of then 11-6 Mets win, giving New York a series sweep that drops San Diego back under the .500 mark and into the quagmire that is the National League Wild Card standings.
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Cease gave up four runs in the first inning, all of them coming on home runs. Francisco Lindor led off with a bomb and Pete Alonso launched a 3-run blast before the Padres righty could even record an out. To their credit, however, the Padres did try to mount a comeback.
In the 8th inning they'd trimmed the lead to 7-2 when the offense found a groove. A single, an error, and a walk loaded the bases and rookie Jackson Merrill worked another walk to bring home a run. David Peralta followed with an RBI groundout, Ha-Seong Kim lined an RBI double to left-center, and Luis Campusano hit a sac fly to bring home the 4th run of the inning and make it a 7-6 game. Luis Arraez singled to put the tying run 90 feet away for Fernando Tatis Jr.
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It was not a great day for Tati. He struck out, his 4th punchout of the day, and in the bottom of the 8th the Mets got all four of those runs back against Jeremiah Estrada. The righty reliever has been tremendous this year but had a bad, bad outing on Sunday. Estrada allowed four runs on five hits, one of them a solo homer by catcher Luis Torrens, and only recorded one out.
San Diego is now tied for the final NL Wild card spot with the surprising Washington Nationals and they have company. No fewer than six teams sit within a game and a half that last playoff position and suddenly this Padres road trip has the potential to be a disaster. On Monday they start a 3-game set in Philadelphia against the Phillies, owners of the best record in the NL (and a sweep of the Friars at Petco Park this season). Randy Vasquez gets the start against Philly lefty Cristopher Sanchez.