Padres 3, Mets 2
Cameron Maybin homered and scored the go-ahead run on an error in the eighth inning and the San Diego Padres’ bullpen returned to form in a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday.
Luis Martinez had an RBI single for San Diego, which earned a split of the four-game series with its sixth win in eight games.
The Padres took a 3-2 lead in the eighth against Jon Niese (11-9), who threw a career-high 122 pitches, thanks to a miscue from fill-in shortstop Ruben Tejada.
Maybin, who homered in the sixth, led off the eighth with a single to right field. After stealing second, Maybin later took third on a double steal and scored on two-out error by Tejada, who has been playing shortstop in place of the injured Jose Reyes.
San Diego’s bullpen, which collapsed in the first two games and struggled on Wednesday, redeemed itself with four perfect innings. Chad Qualls (6-6) and Luke Gregerson bridged the gap to Heath Bell, who earned his 32nd save in 35 chances.
Lucas Duda drove in a pair of runs for New York and David Wright passed Ed Kranepool for the most total bases in franchise history (2,048) with a single in the fifth.