Mets 5, Padres 4
Josh Spence walked Ruben Tejada with the bases loaded for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the New York Mets rallied for a 5-4 victory over the visiting San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
Angel Pagan sparked a three-run eighth with his second homer in as many games as New York came back against baseball’s best bullpen for the second straight night. The Mets, who are without Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy, scored five runs over the final two innings in Monday’s improbable 9-8 win.
New York trailed 4-2 before Pagan, who has been hitting leadoff in place of Reyes, started the comeback by homering off Chad Qualls (5-6). Justin Turner and David Wright chased Qualls with back-to-back singles and Monday’s hero, Lucas Duda, advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt.
After an intentional walk to Jason Bay, pinch-hitter Nick Evans tied the game with a sacrifice fly. One batter later, Spence's 3-2 pitch to Tejada was high and outside.
D.J. Carrasco (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Jason Isringhausen threw a perfect ninth for his 299th career save.