The 101 win trash talking Mets are eliminated from the postseason. The San Diego Padres won the deciding Game 3 of their National League first-round series over the Mets 6-0.
Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove was dominant. He retired the first 12 Mets he faced. By the sixth inning, he had thrown fewer than 60 pitches, meaning the Mets, who prided themselves on working counts all season, were nowhere near driving him from the game.
The whining Mets complained of Musgrove doctoring his pitches. Mets Shortstop Francisco Lindor said guys in the dugout thought something about Musgrove looked different. Pete Alonso said the decision to question Musgrove was manager Buck Showalter’s alone. In some ways, the check confirmed the one thing everyone in the stadium seemed to know, the one thing Showalter would never say publicly: The Mets did not know what to do.
In the sixth inning, with Musgrove twirling a gem for the Padres, Mets manager Buck Showalter instructed the umpires to investigate the pitcher for sticky substances, with the umpires going as far to inspect the righty’s ears. It was a move of complete desperation. The “bush league” move by the Mets did not work. Musgrove stayed in the game for seven shutout innings and allowed one hit. “I get it, dude,” Musgrove added. “They’re on their last leg. They’re desperate.”
Loser Mets fans at Citi Field chanted, “Cheater! Cheater!” as the umpires inspected Musgrove’s glove and face for sticky substances.
The Mets Prized free agent pitcher Max Scherzer, who allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings on Friday night, expressed his disappointment with how the season ended.
“It’s a kick in the b—s,” Scherzer said, via SNY. “You sacrifice everything in your life. Guys are playing through injuries, all the training that you do for these moments to get to the postseason, and it doesn’t work out. It’s the worst day of the year.”
Scherzer is overpaid, smug and grumpy, and he came up small when his team needed him.
Bye Bye Mets!
Manager Buck Showalter’s gambit didn’t pay off, and his batters managed just one hit as they were eliminated Sunday night by the Padres. Photo courtsey of John Minchillo/AP
