Mets' best chance vanishes vs. sharp Snell

SAN DIEGO -- How quickly frustration turned to hope for the Mets late Friday night at Petco Park, where Blake Snell had so thoroughly dominated them over the first six innings. The Mets knew their best remaining chance to crack a hit off Snell would occur in the seventh, with the heart of their order due to bat.

Francisco Lindor did not disappoint, lining a leadoff single that scooted under Tommy Pham’s glove for a two-base error. Just like that, Snell’s no-hit bid vanished, along with the Padres’ grip on a one-run lead. All the Mets had to do was push home the tying run from third base with no outs.

Then, how quickly their hope turned back into frustration. James McCann struck out. Pete Alonso popped out. Brandon Drury struck out. And the Mets again fell flat in their meeting with one of the National League’s best teams, the Padres, who sunk them to a 2-0 loss.

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By game’s end, McCann and manager Luis Rojas had both been ejected for arguing balls and strikes, adding a layer of frustration to the Mets’ already sour evening.

“He threw really well,” Rojas said of Snell. “I mean he pitched. He had the stuff, yes, but he pitched.”

As so often tends to be the case, Snell’s no-hit bid overshadowed the fact that even throughout the middle innings, the game’s outcome was very much in doubt. Following Manny Machado’s solo homer in the first inning, Mets starter Joey Lucchesi retired nine straight batters to keep the Mets within a run of the Padres despite Snell’s excellence. Reliever Jacob Barnes then escaped a jam in the fifth, and Drew Smith pitched a scoreless sixth.

Things stayed so tight that Lindor’s single to lead off the seventh inning was enough to raise the Mets’ win expectancy from 29.5% to 48.0%. Suddenly, the Mets could sense vulnerability in Snell, who has struggled all season despite his obvious talent.

“Nobody wants to be no-hit, man,” Lindor said afterward. “I don’t want to be part of that highlight.”

But Snell did not offer any additional signs of weakness. All four of his pitches to McCann were fastballs -- the first one on the inside corner, the next just off it. Following a waste pitch, Snell threw another 96 mph fastball above the strike zone, which tempted McCann enough for the catcher to wave at it with a check-swing.

Next up was Alonso, who didn’t see a pitch over the heart of the plate. After chasing several offerings either on the corners or just off them, Alonso finally popped up on another fastball that ticked the top of the zone.

That left things up to Drury, who finished 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on the night. Like the others, Drury chased a 97 mph out of the strike zone, waving and missing at it after falling behind, 0-2. And just like that, the Mets’ promising inning came to an end, as their win expectancy plummeted back down to 20.2%.

“I just said, ‘This is my night; I’m not letting no one go across that plate,” Snell said. “As that inning went, I just knew I was going to have a lot behind every fastball. Might as well throw it as hard as I can and see what they can do with it.”

The result was easily Snell’s deepest and best outing of the season, with 10 strikeouts over seven innings -- more than enough to outduel Lucchesi, who allowed one run over 4 2/3. Before Lindor’s hit, the Mets’ only baserunner was Billy McKinney, who walked with two outs in the fifth.

Certainly, that provided cause for frustration, which bubbled over when home-plate umpire Quinn Wolcott rung up McCann in the ninth, then ejected both McCann and Rojas for arguing the call. But the Mets tried not to harp on it. They tried not to fret too much about their chases, their strikeouts or even the loss, knowing those things happen from time to time over a long season.

Friday, quite simply, was Snell’s night. And the Mets weren’t able to do much about it.

“We definitely felt like we had a great opportunity to score,” Lindor said. “Snell made some pitches. Snell made some quality pitches with no outs and a guy on third base. Hat’s off to him.”