Tatis Launches Two, Padres Silence Mets 5-2

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs — the first a 452-foot missile to left center in the first inning — and finished 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored as San Diego beat New York 5-2 on August 18. The story of the night was Tatis dismantling any hope the Mets had of staying in this game before it ever really started.

Tatis set the tone immediately, going deep to left center 452 feet in the first inning to put San Diego up 1-0. The Mets kept it close through four innings, but the fifth is where this game was decided. Tatis connected again — this time to right center, 379 feet, a two-run shot that scored Cronenworth and pushed the lead to 3-0. That swing moved New York's win probability from 28% to 14%, a 15-point collapse in a single at-bat. The Mets answered in the same inning when Torrens hit a 417-foot home run to center to make it 3-1, but San Diego had already done the damage that mattered.

Robbie Ray kept New York honest on the mound, going 6.0 innings and allowing just 1 earned run on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts. Zac Thornton was sharper in terms of swing-and-miss stuff — 7 strikeouts over 5.0 innings — but gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs, and that gap in run prevention is what separated these two teams. San Diego extended to 4-1 in the seventh when France singled to left, scoring Bowen, and Machado moved to second. The Mets pulled within two on a Robert Jr. home run to center in the eighth — 390 feet — but Machado answered immediately in the ninth with a 397-foot shot to left center to restore the three-run cushion and close it out at 5-2. Mason Miller threw a clean ninth inning, 1.0 IP, no hits, no walks, two strikeouts.

Machado was quietly excellent: 3-for-4 with a home run, an RBI, and a run scored. The Padres appear to have gotten contributions up and down the lineup when they needed them — France's RBI single in the seventh looks like the kind of grinding insurance run that holds up in close games. For New York, Torrens and Robert Jr. each went deep, and Bichette went 2-for-5, but the offense never found a way to string anything together against Ray. The Mets' bats produced four home runs between them and still lost by three. That's a tough night.