For the San Diego Padres, Game 3 of the National League Wild Card playoff series was a colossal success. But as a rule of thumb, every time one team enjoys success, another must suffer through failure. That was the case for San Diego’s opponent, the New York Mets.
The Mets battled on Saturday, defeating the Padres 7-3 to keep their season going and bringing the Wild Card series to one final, winner-take-all game. But any good vibes that New York had in Game 2 did not transfer to Game 3. San Diego scored a pair of runs in the second inning and for all intents and purposes, that was it.
Trailing 4-0 in the sixth inning, manager Buck Showalter tried to get something going by asking the umpires to inspect Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove for illegal substances. But that proved fruitless. Nothing was found and Musgrove dominated the Mets through the seventh inning. Musgrove was relieved by Robert Suárez, who pitched a perfect eighth inning. Josh Hader did the same in the ninth, ending New York’s season.
The Padres move on to the NLDS against the Dodgers with a 6-0 Game 3 win over the Mets. pic.twitter.com/QJoe5pEsSC
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) October 10, 2022
In some ways, 2022 was a dream season for the Mets. They won 101 games and led the National League East nearly all year. But for those reasons, the dream was also a nightmare. New York was swept by the Atlanta Braves in the penultimate series of the year, losing its grip on a division that it once held a seemingly insurmountable lead in.
That could have been rectified with a good playoff performance but it was not meant to be. And when the Mets were eliminated, the MLB world was