NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 15: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 15, 2024 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Padres 5-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The Padres took off on their trip through New York and Philadelphia riding the high of their first sweep of the season, armed with the knowledge they have the best road offense in all of Major League Baseball. Like, no team scores more runs away from its home park than the Friars do.
So, you'd think they would be able to hammer out some hits at Citi Field against a Mets team that has a pitching staff that's got one of the worst starter's ERAs in the National League. However …
This is the 2024 Padres. They don't seem to do things the way just about everyone else on the planet, or really even logic, thinks they should be done. After losing 2-1 on Friday night, somehow, their offense got worse on Saturday afternoon in a 5-1 setback that saw them get exactly two hits.
If you're looking for a positive, one of those hits was a solo home run from Jackson Merrill, who suddenly looks like Aaron Judge. In his first 67 big league games Merrill hit three home runs. He's gone deep four times since Wednesday. Fernando Tatis Jr. had the other knock, a double in the 1st inning. Outside of that the offense was hibernating.
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On the other side, J.D. Martinez hit a pair of home runs and drove in three, outslugging the entire San Diego lineup by himself. Now the Padres need a win on Sunday to avoid being swept, something that would be very, very bad considering they open a 3-game set in Philadelphia on Monday.
