Machado shows Mets his MVP form can return on any swing

NEW YORK -- Is the present version of Manny Machado the same player who stormed to the front of the National League MVP race with a near-flawless start to his 2022 season?

If we're being honest, no, probably not.

Since he sprained his left ankle five weeks ago in Denver, Machado is hitting just .188. His average has dipped below .300 for the first time in more than three months. It was a gruesome looking injury, and even if he’d never admit it, he’s almost certainly still feeling the effects, to some extent.

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But even with a balky ankle, he’s still Manny Machado, one of the sport’s best all-around players. As such, he’s still finding ways to make his presence felt when it matters. Machado did that in rather loud fashion on Saturday night, swatting a thunderous two-run homer that accounted for the entirety of the Padres’ offense in their 2-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field.

“That swing won us the game,” said winning pitcher Blake Snell. “Thank you Manny, for being Manny.”

Snell worked five gritty, scoreless innings, as he dealt with constant traffic on the bases and perhaps a missed call or two from the plate umpire. It was a resilient effort from Snell, whose starts often unraveled on him during a shaky first half. Not this time. When Snell needed strikes, he threw them. When the left-hander needed an out-pitch, he found one.

Snell’s effort set the stage for Machado in the sixth. With two outs and a runner aboard, Machado looked at a borderline 0-2 slider. Ball one. The next pitch from Mets right-hander Chris Bassitt was a hanging slider, and Machado doesn’t miss those. He turned on it and shot a 107 mph line drive into the left-field seats.

“That’s a really good ballclub on the other side,” Machado said. “We’re swinging the bats well, having great at-bats. … He made that one mistake, and we were able to take advantage of it. That’s what good baseball is.”

Machado has done everything within his power to avoid talking about his ankle. No, he says, it’s not why his numbers have dipped. He often uses a refrain once preached to him by Buck Showalter, his former manager with the Orioles who's now the Mets’ skipper, to say that the only day any player is 100% is the first day of Spring Training.

On top of that, Machado didn’t get much of a breather, having spent his break at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles, before flying cross-country on Thursday. Still, he acknowledged that his ankle is feeling better than it did in the immediate aftermath of the injury.

“It feels better,” Machado said. “I don’t think it’s 100%. I don’t think it will be. But every single night, whatever your 100% is that night, you just try to give it your all. It feels better when the team’s doing well.”

So Machado won’t delve too deeply into the extent that he is playing hurt. But his teammates certainly will.

“It lifts us up,” Snell said. “He’s a special player. To have him doing what he’s doing, it’s fun to watch, fun to be on the same team as him.”

“He’s just basically leading by example,” added first baseman Eric Hosmer, who broke up Bassitt’s no-hitter with a fifth-inning single. “We all see the work he’s putting in. We all see how swollen his ankle is. All that. He’s basically playing on one foot right now.

“As a teammate, you appreciate the work he puts in. You know he’s going to be productive, offensively and defensively. But it sticks out a little more right now, just being able to see what’s going on behind the scenes and what he’s doing just to be ready at 7 o’clock every day.”

Machado’s home run put the Padres on top, and from there, manager Bob Melvin called for an unlikely source to keep that lead in check. Left-hander Adrian Morejon was handed his first high-leverage situation of the season -- and made the most of it.

Morejon struck out four of the five hitters he faced, showcasing a fastball in the upper 90s. It was his most dominant outing since he returned last month from Tommy John surgery. And it might be a precursor for things to come.

“That was big,” Melvin said. “This is a guy that we have big expectations for.”

Taylor Rogers picked up his Major League-leading 28th save, though not without a nervy ninth inning, in which he surrendered a run and allowed the tying run to reach third base. He escaped the threat by getting Tomás Nido to pop to second baseman Jake Cronenworth, sealing the Padres’ second win in as many nights against the NL East leaders.

The Padres have big goals for the second half of their season, and it’s off to quite a start.