Left-hander Blake Snell struck out 11 across six shutout innings as the host San Diego Padres recorded a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night.
Snell (6-7) surrendered one hit — Brandon Nimmo’s infield single in the third — and walked three for San Diego, which has won four of its last five games.
After being named National League Pitcher of the Month in June, Snell hasn’t missed a beat in July. He logged five scoreless innings en route to a win against the Angels on Monday before striking out seven of the first eight batters he faced on Sunday.
The Padres scored all three of their runs in the second inning, receiving a boost from Matthew Batten, whose two-run shot marked the first home run of his major league career. Batten was making his season debut after appearing in 15 games for San Diego in 2022.
Josh Hader put the finishing touches on the victory, striking out two in a scoreless ninth for his 21st save.
New York totaled just three hits, including Francisco Alvarez’s solo home run in the seventh. It was Alvarez’s 17th homer of the season. The Mets saw their six-game winning streak come to an end with the loss.
The Padres’ second-inning outburst came against New York starter David Peterson (2-7).
Gary Sanchez opened the frame with a double and moved to third on a single by Jake Cronenworth. Brandon Dixon followed with a line drive that fell in front of Mets right fielder Starling Marte, who threw to second to get a force on Cronenworth as Sanchez scored.
That brought up Batten, who was starting at second base for Ha-Seong Kim, who injured his toe on Friday night. Batten connected with a 1-2 changeup, driving it 377 feet to the left field seats for his milestone homer.
Peterson was tagged for the three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
–Field Level Media
