PADRES WASTE A WINNABLE GAME AND THAT CAN’T HAPPEN RIGHT NOW

Yesterday I said the Padres needed to take care of business against the Mets.

Apparently I should have been more specific.

Score more than one run.

The Mets scored two.

Two.

At this point in the season, if your pitching staff holds the Mets to two runs, you have to win that baseball game.

Instead, the Padres lost 2-1.

And somehow the one run doesn’t even tell you how frustrating this game was.

Because San Diego had opportunities.

Lots of them.

They just kept finding increasingly creative ways not to score.

JACKED UP.

FOUR GUYS THROWN OUT AT HOME

I’m going to repeat that because it doesn’t sound real.

Four Padres were thrown out at home plate.

The Mets became the first team since at least 1920 to throw out three runners at home on outfield assists in the first two innings of a game.

Carson Benge threw out Jake Cronenworth.

Then he threw out Manny Machado.

Then A.J. Ewing threw out Xander Bogaerts.

San Diego had seven hits.

They drew four walks.

And they scored one run.

This wasn’t a game where the Padres couldn’t get anybody on base.

They got guys on base.

They just couldn’t get them the final 90 feet.

ABSOLUTELY JACKED.

YOU HAVE TO WIN THIS GAME

This is really my problem with last night.

The Padres are trying to make the playoffs.

I’ve gone even further and predicted they’re going to catch the Dodgers and win the NL West.

If they’re going to make me look smart, games like this can’t happen.

The Mets are now 57-69.

They scored two runs.

Your starter gave you a chance.

Your offense had baserunners all night.

Win the game.

You don’t get to September and ask for the games back that you should have won in August.

WALKER BUEHLER DID HIS JOB

And this is why I’m not putting this loss anywhere near the pitching staff.

Buehler gave up both Mets runs in the first inning.

Then he basically shut the door.

He retired 16 of the final 17 hitters he faced.

That’s enough.

If your starter gives up two runs, your offense should be able to find a way to win.

Especially against a team 12 games under .500.

Buehler:

UNJACKED.

The offense:

VERY JACKED UP.

AND OF COURSE THE DODGERS WON

Because why make this loss merely annoying when we can make it hurt?

The Dodgers beat Colorado 11-5.

Shohei Ohtani homered twice.

Los Angeles scored 11.

San Diego scored one.

I don’t particularly enjoy typing any of those sentences.

Every game matters now.

If you’re serious about chasing the Dodgers, you cannot lose a 2-1 game to the Mets while the Dodgers are putting 11 on the board.

Dodgers winning: JACKED UP.

THE GOOD NEWS

This is still one game.

The Padres had been playing excellent baseball coming into New York, and one terrible offensive night doesn’t erase that.

But it does make tonight more important.

San Diego is now 67-59.

And this is where good teams respond.

Don’t turn one bad loss into a bad series.

Win tonight.

Then win the series tomorrow.

AROUND THE SPORTS WORLD

One of the coolest performances from yesterday came from Pete Crow-Armstrong.

He homered to lead off the Cubs’ game against the White Sox.

Then he homered again in the 10th to win it.

That made him just the sixth player in MLB history to hit both a leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same game. He also reached his second consecutive 30-30 season.

That’s ridiculous.

VERY UNJACKED.

And then there was the other big Padres news yesterday.

MLB owners unanimously approved the sale of the Padres to the investment group led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. The transaction values the club at $3.9 billion, an MLB record, although the deal still has to formally close.

The new ownership group says it wants to build on what Peter Seidler created and bring a World Series championship to San Diego.

We’ll see what they do.

But an ownership group coming in talking about winning?

UNJACKED.

TODAY’S JUS SCORECARD

JACKED TODAY

• Padres scoring one run against the Mets
• Four Padres getting thrown out at home
• Wasting a two-run pitching performance
• Dodgers scoring 11 and winning again

UNJACKED TODAY

• Walker Buehler retiring 16 of his final 17
• Pete Crow-Armstrong’s leadoff and walk-off homers
• Padres ownership saying the goal is a World Series
• The fact that San Diego gets another shot tonight

I’m not backing off my Padres prediction after one game.

But if you’re going to catch the Dodgers, you can’t just beat the good teams.

You have to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat.

The Mets scored two runs.

That game needed to be a Padres win.

It wasn’t.