3 things from the Padres' 7-1 win over the Mets

The San Diego Padres took a 1-0 lead over the New York Mets in their Wild Card series after brilliant performances from Yu Darvish and some of the unheralded guys in their lineup.

Okay, here's is the challenge of the day. How do I make a deal out of the San Diego Padres 7-1 win over the New York Mets in game 1 of their Wild Card Series without making it seem like the series is over? Eh, I’ll figure it out at some point. For now, let’s dive into some of the numbers!

7 innings from the Padres’ ace

I’m sure you’ve heard this stat by now. I don’t really care. Here it is again:

ESPN Stats & Info@ESPNStatsInfo

Yu Darvish is the 4th pitcher in Padres history to complete at least seven innings in a postseason game, joining Kevin Brown (3 times), Ed Whitson and Andy Ashby.

3:14 AM · Oct 8, 2022

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Yu Darvish was brilliant last night. That pitching performance is, statistically, one of the best postseason pitching performances we’ve ever seen from a San Diego Padres pitcher.

I’ve talked a lot about what type of roster A.J. Preller has built since the Padres traded for Yu Darvish and Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove before the 2021 season. This is, in my opinion, a roster that is built to win in the playoffs more than it is a roster that is meant to rack up regular-season wins. They have a lot of top-level talent but not an incredible amount of depth. In a series, especially a short one, that can be the thing that matters the most.

The Mets scored 772 runs this regular season. Here’s the entire list of teams that scored more runs than them:

• Dodgers

• Braves

• Blue Jays

• Yankees

It’s not a stretch to call the Mets one of the 5 best offenses in baseball, and Yu Darvish was one bad pitch away from giving up zero runs over 7 innings in a playoff game they needed to win. Instead, he gives up just 1 run and easily earned himself a postseason quality start.

If the Padres win this series and start some sort of miracle run through the playoffs, we shouldn’t lose sight of the tone that was set early in game 1 by the ace of the staff. Speaking of guys setting the tone early…