Losing skid behind them, Padres push for collection win vs. Mets

It wasn’t like the San Diego Padres started knocking down the walls at their home ballpark Saturday night. Their five hits were pretty much on par with their paltry production lately.

But one of them was a two-run homer by Freddy Fermin, breaking an 0-for-30 skid and enabling the Padres to snap a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 squeaker over the New York Mets.

That gives the Padres a chance to win a series in Sunday’s rubber game and left them much happier than they have been for most of the past two weeks. It was just their second win in 12 games.

“It’s a huge lift off your shoulders,” manager Craig Stammen said. “You have the fear that you’re never going to win a game again. Hopefully, it creates the belief that we are still a good team.”

Perhaps most encouraging to the Padres was that they got production out of the bottom of the lineup. Not only did Fermin’s homer put them ahead to stay in the seventh inning, but they also got two hits and a walk from infielder Sung-Mun Song.

Neither is batting over .200 but they were able to do what Stammen has asked them to do — at least for one game.

“Find ways to create havoc and get on base for the top of the order,” he said. “Song played a great game and it was awesome to see Freddy come through in that moment. That swing was exactly what we needed.”

Right-hander Randy Vasquez (5-3, 3.31 ERA) is coming off a no-decision Tuesday night in the Padres’ 3-2 loss at Philadelphia, permitting two runs off five hits and a walk in five innings while striking out three.

Vasquez faced New York for the first time in his career last Sept. 18 and absorbed a 6-1 loss, yielding four runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Left-hander Sean Manaea (0-1, 5.08) likely will be the Mets’ bulk reliever after opener Huascar Brazoban (3-1, 2.25), a right-hander.

Manaea last pitched on Monday night in Seattle, taking over in the second inning and allowing only one run on one hit — a Colt Emerson solo homer — and a walk in five frames while striking out four.

Manaea owns a 5-1 record and 3.26 earned run average in 11 career outings against the Padres, eight of them starts, and has struck out 48 batters in 49 2/3 innings.

New York was in position to take the series with a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh before the reliable Austin Warren experienced a costly hiccup.

After mishandling Song’s soft grounder along the first base line for an infield hit, Warren threw a fastball that Fermin blistered into the seats.

“I didn’t do my job,” Warren said. “It’s part of the game. I threw a good pitch and he made a better swing.”

It didn’t help that New York’s offense reverted to being relatively punchless. After beating good starters in Seattle’s George Kirby and San Diego’s Michael King in their previous two games, the Mets managed only six hits, three of them against starter Griffin Canning and his 6.34 ERA.

-Field Level Media