NEW YORK — After two days of obfuscation, arrogance and general nonsense, the Mets’ players made clear on Friday what Mets manager Buck Showalter refused to say: Jacob deGrom will start Game 2 of the National League wild card series.
Showalter said on Thursday that the team would decide its Game 2 starter based on the outcome of Game 1. He did not elaborate, but even a casual observer could understand that the idea would be to maximize New York’s one-two punch: Win Game 1 with co-ace Max Scherzer, use No. 3 starter Chris Bassitt to try to sweep the Padres in two games and keep deGrom, the other ace, available to start either a winner-take-all Game 3 or, ideally, Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers.
Well, all that gamesmanship doesn’t do you much good if the first ace gets knocked out. By the time Scherzer trudged off the mound with two outs in the fifth, seven Padres having crossed home plate, the boos of 41,621 enraged fans providing the soundtrack, the outcome was all but decided. The Padres would win 7–1.
