SAN DIEGO — The Padres and Mets are two of the best teams in the National League, playing a crucial series ahead of the Trade Deadline as they vie for playoff position. The margins were always going to be thin.
So when Mark Vientos lifted a deep fly ball that should have easily cleared the right-field fence by a couple feet — and when Fernando Tatis Jr. went airborne and stretched well beyond that fence to bring back a two-run home run — well, those are the kinds of margins that define a one-run game between contenders decided on the final swing.
Catcher Elias Díaz walked off a wild 7-6 San Diego victory on Monday night at Petco Park — a game in which the Padres needed all of one inning to rally from a four-run deficit. Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio launched a game-tying homer off closer Robert Suarez in the top of the ninth before Díaz swatted a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
“It was one of the best baseball games this year,” Tatis said.
The night’s standout play belonged to Tatis — though robbing home runs is nothing new for the Platinum Glove-Award winning right fielder. Still, even by Tatis’ lofty standards, this was quite a robbery.
Tatis went way over the right-field wall to take a certain home run away from Vientos, whose deep fly ball didn’t just clear the wall — it nearly cleared the entire padded area behind the fence. Tatis timed his leap and reached over the wall to bring it back, keeping the game tied at 1.
“It was good timing — and being blessed by the gods,” Tatis said. “… I got to the wall, then I slowed myself down to make sure I’ve got everything I could, then I jumped.”
Said Vientos: “I thought I had it. I put a good swing on it. Obviously, he caught it and made a heck of a play.”
Given how far Vientos’ drive had cleared the fence by, it wasn’t apparent that Tatis had caught the baseball until he returned to the ground and attempted to make a transfer in search of a double play. In his haste, he fumbled it out of his glove. Umpires quickly indicated the catch was clean.
“I probably got a little bit excited,” Tatis said.
With the game still tied an inning later, Vientos launched a go-ahead grand slam — well beyond Tatis’ reach this time. The Mets took a 5-1 lead, but the Padres wasted no time storming back with five in the bottom of the frame.
“Both teams battled,” Vientos said. “You’re talking about two playoff teams. I thought it was a great game. … We were going back and forth, and they just came out on top today.”
Luis Arraez sparked the comeback with a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole. Then, the Padres — after entering the day with the Majors’ lowest OPS from the bottom third of their lineup — grabbed the lead with three RBI singles in quick succession from their 7-8-9 hitters.
Half an inning later, Tatis made another dazzling play, sliding to rob Mauricio of a bloop hit.
In 2023, his first season as a full-time outfielder, Tatis won the Platinum Glove Award as the best defender at any position in the National League. He played through a stress reaction in his right leg in ‘24 and wasn’t nearly as strong defensively.
But Tatis is back to playing Platinum Glove-caliber defense in right — worth 8 outs above average, according to Statcast — while turning in his usual array of highlight reel plays.
“It’s a good time to be in this league,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “There’s some real, real amazing talent on display every night. He just made two of the best plays you’re going to see.”
With the win, the Padres increased their Wild Card cushion to two games. The specifics of their Deadline strategy remain unclear. Dylan Cease, who allowed five runs on Monday, is a candidate to be dealt. If so, the Padres might look to use some of those resources to add elsewhere.
But they’re almost certainly going to add in some capacity — and likely on offense. They envision many more nights like this one down the stretch and into October. After his heroics, Tatis was asked if he thought the ballpark had a playoff-like vibe on Monday night.
“It was definitely a great baseball game,” Tatis said. “At Petco Park, it’s a playoff game every single day.”
