Brandion Drury

Chris Paddack Not Winning Pitcher Of The Week

Back in 2019, Chris Paddack famously threw down the gauntlet. He remarked while Pete Alonso was a deserving Rookie of the Month, Paddack would be Rookie if the Year.

The two went on wildly divergent paths from there. Alonso went on to become Rookie of the Year while Paddack has been a well below average pitcher with a tenuous spot in the Padres rotation.

While the New York Mets struggled to get hits and runs in most of this series, they did not have similar struggles against Paddack.

In the third, Jose Peraza hit a one out ground rule double, and after he was sacrificed to third by Marcus Stroman, Billy McKinney drove him home.

That 1-0 grew to 2-0 in the fourth when Dominic Smith homered to dead center

In the sixth, Alonso would get his revenge. After McKinney hit a lead-off single, he stole second. He then came home on an Alonso RBI single. At that point, it was 3-0.

That was a massive lead considering how Stroman was pitching. Yes, Stroman was wild with an uncharacteristic four walks. Still, he made the pitches he needed and got good defense.

For example, in the fourth, the Padres loaded the bases with one out. Webster Rivas hit a ball down the line. Brandon Drury fielded it on his knee, touched third, and began the inning ending double play.

It was one of those days for Stroman. He made the pitches he needed, and he got great defense. He also helped his own cause hitting an RBI double in the top of the seventh to increase the Mets lead to 4-1.

The only time the Padres could get to him was by a fluke. In the sixth, Stroman made a nice grab on a Fernando Tats Jr. grounder. Stroman made a poor throw (Alonso should’ve stopped it), and Alonso compounded it by the throwing it away himself allowing Tatis to go third.

Tatis would then score on a Eric Hosmer RBI groundout. That was it against Stroman.

Stroman allowed the one unearned run over 6.2 innings. He yielded four walks and four hits while striking out seven. He’d pick up the win.

That 4-1 Mets lead in the seventh grew to 6-1 when James McCann hit a two run homer:

In total, the Mets would win this game 6-2. After a tough start to this series, the Mets battled through, and they claimed a split. This deserves everyone’s respect.

Game Notes: After getting six extra base hits to start his Mets career, McKinney finally hit a single.

page top