Jose Iglesias was at Citi Field on Tuesday, as the Mets hoped to sprinkle some of that 2024 magic into the current, suddenly red-hot team.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had other ideas.
He set the tone on the first pitch of the game, creating his own version of “OMG.”
The Padres star outfielder sent Zac Thornton’s first delivery over the wall in left field, an ominous sign for the evening ahead.
Thornton couldn’t solve Tatis — he homered twice off the rookie — but even worse for the Mets, Tatis did more than just swing a power bat.
His robbery of a Francisco Lindor grand slam was ultimately the difference in the Padres’ 5-2 victory in front of 35,508 at Citi Field that snapped the four-game Mets winning streak.
“Impressive and annoying, both of those things,” interim manager Andy Green said of Tatis. “Put two good swings on, started the game off [with a home run]. I think there’s probably enough superlatives that have already been thrown out at the robbed home run.”
The Mets only managed a Luis Torrens solo homer off Robbie Ray in six innings. Luis Robert Jr. added another solo shot in the eighth.
Tatis was the unquestioned star. He rocketed a first-pitch fastball from Thornton over the wall at a blistering 113.2 mph. It traveled an estimated 452 feet and landed in the second deck. In the fifth, he went to the opposite field for a two-run shot, his 15th of the season. They were all the runs the Padres would need — thanks to Tatis.
The Mets loaded the bases in the second without a hit, as Ray lost the strike zone. After Torrens grounded into a force out, Lindor sent a fastball toward the right field line. Tatis brought it back, robbing the Mets of four runs.
Tatis ranged to the wall by the 330-foot sign in the right field corner. He leapt and stretched his glove over the fence as his hat flew off his head. Citi Field went quiet, unsure what had happened. Tatis stood motionless for a moment, then let everyone know he had come down with the ball, flipping it from his glove to his bare hand.
“I’m just going for it. I didn’t know it was going out right away,” Tatis said. “But I knew it was going to be a play at the wall. As soon as I was getting close to the wall, just great timing.”
Thornton lasted five innings, giving up the two Tatis homers and striking out seven. It marked Thornton’s eighth straight start of allowing three earned runs or fewer.
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“Obviously, I’d like to get a little bit deeper,” he said. “I thought I wasted a few pitches there in the third. I had two outs, and [I gave up a] walk and a base hit. I could’ve saved 10 or so pitches there. I just got to get deeper into games.”
It was a frustrating night for the Mets lineup, which went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
They wasted Bo Bichette doubles in the first and third innings, and a two-on, one-out situation in the seventh when Lindor and Bichette failed to come through against Padres lefty Adrian Morejon.
Morejon put two on in the eighth, but struck out A.J. Ewing — the third time the rookie went down swinging.
The second inning was the big chance, though, and Tatis was responsible for the Mets coming up empty.
