Luis Arraez and Kyle Higashioka homered Friday night while Joe Musgrove fanned nine in seven shutout innings as the San Diego Padres blanked the visiting New York Mets 7-0.
Musgrove (4-4) allowed just one hit, Starling Marte’s one-out double in the fifth, and issued no walks. He retired the first 13 hitters he faced and threw 58 of his 75 pitches for strikes. Musgrove has allowed only one run in 15 2/3 innings since coming off the injured list earlier this month.
Jason Adam and Sean Reynolds each followed with a scoreless inning as the Padres closed out a two-hitter.
Mets starter Paul Blackburn (5-4) lasted only 2 1/3 innings before leaving after being struck on his right hand by a comebacker. He was touched for 10 hits and five runs with no walks and a strikeout as New York fell 2 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the National League’s final wild-card spot.
The Padres, who snapped a two-game skid and evened the four-game series at one win apiece, stayed within a half-game of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL’s first wild-card spot.
A night after watching the Mets rap out 17 hits in an 8-3 victory, San Diego collected 16. Every starter got at least one hit, with Arraez and Manny Machado each bagging three. Most of the Padres’ damage came in the first three innings.
Arraez got things started in the first with a leadoff homer, his fourth long ball of the year. Higashioka made it 3-0 in the second when he lined a two-run shot down the left field line, extending his career-high total with his 15th of the season.
Later in the second, Jake Cronenworth upped the margin to 4-0 with a two-out single to right-center that scored rookie shortstop Mason McCoy. The Padres kept piling up hits and runs in the third, increasing the advantage to 6-0 on Higashioka’s run-scoring double to left and Arraez’s RBI single.
Machado capped the scoring in the eighth by grounding a two-out single up the middle to plate pinch runner Tyler Wade.
Meanwhile, Musgrove, Adam and Reynolds kept retiring New York hitters with ease. After Marte’s double, San Diego pitchers mowed down the next 13 men before Francisco Lindor ripped a two-out double to left in the ninth.