A-Gon goes yard, drives in 5 in rout of Padres

SAN DIEGO -- Adrián González punished one of his former teams on Sunday, and made a case for continued playing time, driving in five runs as the Mets pounded the Padres, 14-2, in the finale of a three-game series at Petco Park.
The 14 runs and 19 hits both marked season highs for New York, which took two of three in the series.
Gonzalez, who played for San Diego from 2006-2010, added to his career home run (65) and RBI total (235) at Petco Park, both the most by any player in the park's history. After driving in two with a double to the wall in the third, Gonzalez blasted a three-run homer off Jordan Lyles in the seventh that gave the Mets a 7-2 lead.
"I went into the game just wanting to get a feel for my timing and looking for good pitches to hit," Gonzalez said. "I was just focused on timing and getting quality hits. In my second at-bat, I think it caught more of the plate than he wanted and I hit the double and then I felt good from there."
With a crowded outfield that includes Brandon Nimmo -- who picked up two hits and an RBI on Sunday -- vying for time, manager Mickey Callaway said before Sunday's game that Jay Bruce could slide over to first base occasionally, pushing Gonzalez to the bench.
"The process is there, and even my outs were hard hits," Gonzalez said. "I just want to take a good at-bat, and what matters to me is the guys in the front office see that I'm hitting the ball well. Really, to me, they're the ones that matter."
Todd Frazier and José Reyes added to the offensive outburst with home runs against Kazuhisa Makita in a five-run eighth that pushed the lead to 14-2.

Yoenis Céspedes left the game with a left thumb injury, suffered when he slid headfirst into third base as part of a double steal in the third inning. Cespedes expects to miss about three days with the injury. He had two hits and two runs scored prior to exiting, and had hit in six straight games.
"It's hard to say," Callaway said of Cespedes' injury. "It's just sore, so we decided to take him out."

Zack Wheeler (2-1) struck out a season-high nine batters over five innings, and allowed two runs on six hits. The right-hander walked two batters.
"I thought he looked really good," Callaway said. "That first inning, we thought he could have been more aggressive, but [pitching coach Dave Eiland] said something to him and it got better from there."
Asdrúbal Cabrera, who has hit in 13 of 14 road games, drove in two runs as part of the five-run seventh that put the Mets on top, 9-2.

Wheeler escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning after allowing an Eric Hosmer single and walking two batters, but recovered to strike out Freddy Galvis and end the threat. Galvis struck back in the third and chopped a two-out single up the middle that scored two and cut the lead to 4-2.
"That first inning, I threw 30-something pitches," Wheeler said. "I tried to go out there and shorten it. I only got through five today -- you want to go six or seven, if not a complete game. It's something I can build on. All my offspeed stuff was there today."

San Diego starter Bryan Mitchell (0-3) yielded four runs over 4 2/3 innings, failing to get through the fifth inning for the second time in six starts this season. Mitchell struck out five and walked four.
Hosmer had three hits for the Padres, who have lost four of their last five games.
The victory wrapped up a three-city road trip in which the Mets went 4-5.
SOUND SMART
When Cespedes and Bruce completed a double steal in the third, following Cespedes' earlier steal in the inning, it marked the first time the Mets had stolen three bases in an inning since April 25, 2017, at Washington.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Gonzalez nearly added another extra-base hit to his extraordinary day when he drove a line drive deep to right-center in the fifth, but right fielder Franchy Cordero made a running grab at the wall to end the inning.

HE SAID IT
"When you get on base every time you come to the plate, it brings energy, that's what it feels like. Just great at-bats. His approach never changes, whether he sits for three days or whatever." -- Callaway, on Nimmo's continued success
UP NEXT
After an off-day Monday, the Mets return home to face the Atlanta Braves at 7:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Steven Matz was scheduled to start the contest, but he will move to the end of the rotation instead due to back stiffness he suffered on Saturday. Noah Syndergaard (2-0, 2.86 ERA) will start in Matz's place, and will be pitching on full rest. Atlanta will counter with lefty Sean Newcomb (1-1, 4.23).