Padres 8, Mets 2: That Was A Long Game

Last night's game was so long, there were seven births and three deaths at Petco Park. It ran over three and a half hours long, despite ending after eight and a half innings. In those interminable hours, Will Venable extending his hitting streak, going 4 for 5 while scoring 3 runs. Four other Padres had a multi-hit game. Meanwhile, Edinson Volquez managed to survive a start nobody wanted him to make. He managed to stay in control enough to only allow two walks and two runs in his five innings, though he did allow seven hits. He was backed up by a bullpen in top form. In four innings, they only allowed two baserunners while striking out five. But the night's biggest heroes were Nick Hundley and Jedd Gyorko, who both went deep to left field.

The game got off to a good start, with Venable hitting a leadoff single and promptly stealing second. Alexi Amarista moved him to third before Chris Denorfia hit a two-out RBI single. The Mets returned the favor in the third, when Eric Young reached second base in the same fashion before being knocked in by Daniel Murphy. They took the lead in the fourth, when Young hit a leadoff double. Ike Davis brought him home with a two-out single.

That's when things got weird. After throwing two pitches to Logan Forsythe, Mets starter Jenrry Mejia left the game with an injury. He was replaced by David Aardsma, who was not very good, to put it kindly. He gave up a single to Forsythe, who then stole second. Not that it mattered, because Hundley crushed the ball to left field after flirting with a home run all at bat. Those were all the runs the Padres needed, but a little padding never hurt anybody. Venable picked up a double before moving to third on a balk. Alexi Amarista plated him with a single to center.

They picked up another run in the fifth in odd fashion. Forsythe hit a single and stole second, then Jaff Decker walked. With two outs, Jesus Guzman came up to pinch hit. He hit an RBI single, but thought he could stretch it into a double. He slid into second... well, three feet short of second, about thirty seconds after the ball. I scored it as "DUMB". You can even check my scorebook if you want. But a run is a run, right?

Things were quiet until the eighth. Venable and Alonso picked a pair of singles, and then Jedd Gyorko hit the ball rather hard. The game had moved so slowly that it was around 1 AM, but Jedd Gyorko doesn't care about the marine layer. Three run homer! No more save situation, but Huston Street was already loose, so he came in to wrap things up. The Mets went down in order, thanks to some stellar defense from Denorfia and Amarista.

The Padres will go for the split today at 1:10 PM, with Eric Stults taking on Matt Harvey.