Yu Darvish efficiently dismantled the best team in the National League.
The 35-year-old right-hander held the Mets hitless until the sixth inning and Jurickson Profar launched a leadoff home run to help the San Diego Padres beat New York 7-0 on Tuesday night.
Darvish (5-3) allowed only two hits in seven innings while striking out six and walking none on 100 pitches. He hit three of the Mets' first five batters with pitches, including Brandon Nimmo to open the game. Darvish plunked Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil to start the second and then retired 14 straight until Mark Canha singled for the Mets’ first hit with two outs in the sixth.
Padres manager Bob Melvin said Darvish's start was impressive against “a lineup that's just been on fire. To get off to such a good start — I don't want to say breeze through; nothing's easy about getting through that lineup. But to go as long as he did without giving up a hit... If it was still 4-0 he was probably going to go out for the eighth. He probably had about 110, 115, with the time off they're getting, six and seven days at times. Pretty good against that lineup."
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The Padres scored three runs in the seventh, so there was no need to send Darvish back out there.
“I felt good. I thought I was being really aggressive, pounding the strike zone,” Darvish said through a translator. “You try to sort of preserve and save the bullpen. I was glad I was able to do that.”
The Mets, who won the series opener 11-5 on Monday night behind Eduardo Escobar's cycle and six RBIs, lost Alonso when the slugger was hit by a pitch on his right hand leading off the second. The team said initial X-rays were negative and further tests were planned.
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New York has been hit by a pitch 40 times this season, six more than any other major league team. Alonso has been nailed seven times.
The Mets have the NL's top record at 38-20 and the Padres, second in the NL West behind Los Angeles, have the third-best at 34-22.
San Diego jumped on Taijuan Walker (3-2) for a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Profar drove Walker's sixth pitch over the party deck atop the right field wall for his seventh homer. Walker allowed four singles and a walk in the second, including an RBI single by Trent Grisham and a two-run base hit by Jake Cronenworth.
Walker gave up four runs and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked two.
The Padres added on in the seventh on Manny Machado's two-run single and Luke Voit's sacrifice fly.
The Mets were shut out for the second time in six games on their West Coast trip. Before that, they were the only big league club that hadn't been blanked this season.
MOREJON RETURNS
Padres lefty reliever Adrian Morejon finished with two perfect innings in his first big league appearance since April 11, 2021, against Texas, a span of 422 days. He had been rehabbing after having Tommy John surgery. He was recalled from the minors earlier in the day.
“Great start for him,” Melvin said. "That's the first time I've seen him in action at the big league level and it looked pretty good to me."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: Right fielder Starling Marte exited with left quad tightness before the bottom of the second. He was replaced by Canha.
Padres: Placed RHP Robert Suarez on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation and recalled Morejon from Triple-A El Paso.
UP NEXT
Mets RHP Chris Bassitt (4-3, 3.74 ERA) and Padres LHP Sean Manea (2-3, 3.77) are scheduled to start the series finale Wednesday night in a matchup of former Oakland teammates.
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