The Citi will shake tonight: What you need to know as Mets, Padres meet in Game 3 finale
MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend concludes with just one Game 3: the San Diego Padres at New York Mets.
The playoff field expanded to 12 teams for the 2022 postseason — four best-of-three series to determine which teams will advance to the ALDS (against the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees) and NLDS (against the Atlanta Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers).
Well, all but one of the wild-card series ended in a sweep. The Cleveland Guardians swept the Tampa Bay Rays and will meet the Yankees in the next round. The Seattle Mariners swept the Toronto Blue Jays and will move on to face the Astros. And the Philadelphia Phillies will battle the Braves after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.
So who will play the Dodgers? We’ll find out tonight.
Follow the action below with start times, pitching matchups, predictions and starting lineups as they’re announced, followed by in-game updates and takeaways after the game is concluded.
More: Everything you need to know about the 2022 MLB playoffs | Greatest postseason … ever? | Ace rankings (ESPN+)| Bracket, results and more
San Diego Padres at New York Mets (7:07 ET on ESPN)
Series tied 1-1
Padres’ starter: Joe Musgrove (10-7, 184 K, 2.93 ERA)
Mets’ starter: Chris Bassitt (15-9, 167 K, 3.42 ERA)
Starting lineups:
PADRES
TBD
METS
TBD
What to watch for: It all comes down to Bassitt versus Musgrove for the opportunity to go to the NLDS and face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers. New York will need a strong start from Bassitt, but the bigger question will be which version of the Mets’ lineup will show up against the Padres on Sunday. In Game 1, they left eight runners on base, managing just a single run on an Eduardo Escobar solo home run off Yu Darvish. The offense looked completely different in Game 2, with contributions up and down the lineup, highlighted by home runs from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. The Mets’ offense has ranked among the best in baseball the entire season but has struggled recently in key moments.
The Padres need a strong performance from Musgrove, who made one start against the Mets this season, allowing four runs in 5⅓ innings pitched in an 8-5 loss. Just as important will be the bullpen. After Blake Snell exited Game 2, having allowed two runs on six walks, five strikeouts and four hits in 3⅓ innings, the Padres’ bullpen failed to keep things close after Nick Martinez served up Alonso’s go-ahead home run and Adrian Morejon allowed four to score without recording an out. The Padres ranked 14th in baseball in bullpen ERA, and star reliever Josh Hader struggled upon arriving in San Diego at the trade deadline, posting a 7.31 ERA in 16 innings pitched. The Padres’ bullpen could be major weak spot for Game 3, especially if the Mets’ bats of Game 2 stick around for Game 3. — Joon Lee
Our expert picks
Lee: Bassitt recovers from his struggles during last Sunday’s pressure-packed loss to the Atlanta Braves and comes through with a strong start — and Mets squeak out enough production from the top of their lineup to inch past the Padres in a tight game from start to finish. Mets 4, Padres 2
Bradford Doolittle: After the Padres split the Max Scherzer/Jacob deGrom starts, the edge in pitching matchup swings in their favor with Musgrove going against Bassitt. More importantly, we saw the challenge Buck Showalter faced in piecing together high-leverage outs on Saturday. That happened while the Padres had Hader cooling his heels and resting up for Sunday. Padres 4, Mets 2
Alden Gonzalez: Bassitt was made to pitch in New York, made to thrive in moments like these. With everything on the line, he’ll ride a frenzied home crowd to a close win over Musgrove. Mets 3, Padres 1
Jeff Passan: In an all-hands-on-deck game, I go with the team that has the superior hands: New York. The Bassitt-Musgrove matchup is something of a wash, which leaves the bullpens. New York’s is slightly better, though a fresh Hader vs. Edwin Diaz coming off 28 pitches — the last time he went back-to-back with so many was June 2018 — is a touch scary for the Mets. In the end, their lineup depth prevails. Mets 3, Padres 2
BALTIMORE — Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford hit for the cycle in Sunday night’s 11-2 win against the Orioles, completing the feat with a three-run homer down the left-field line in the eighth inning.
It was the first career four-hit game for Langford, who was drafted last year by the Rangers with the No. 4 overall pick and made a swift rise to the majors to make Texas’ Opening Day roster this season.
It was the first cycle in the major leagues in 2024.
Langford tripled in the fourth, doubled in the fifth and singled in the sixth.
At 22 years, 229 days old, Langford is the youngest player in Rangers history to hit for the cycle. He’s the 15th rookie to hit for the cycle since Major League Baseball established an official definition of rookie status in 1958.
The only other rookie in Rangers history to hit for the cycle was Oddibe McDowell, in 1985 against Cleveland. He recorded his in his 59th career game; Langford had his in his 60th career game.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
BALTIMORE — The rules for the 2024 Home Run Derby have been altered significantly, with some of the changes designed to reduce the frantic pace that has concerned past participants.
Within each player’s timed round, the hitter will see a maximum of 40 pitches — similar to how there is a maximum number of basketballs shot in the NBA 3-point contest. This will place a greater premium on efficiency between the batting practice pitchers and the hitters.
Since the Derby moved to a timed format in 2015, the rounds of swings have often shifted into a race of the hitter and pitcher trying to get through as many swings as possible. In last year’s Derby, all of the participants averaged more than 43 swings per round.
Some past participants have spoken about how exhausting the event has become, and have privately fretted about what they perceive to be a heightened risk for injury because of the accelerated pace, which is not typical for hitters taking batting practice.
The hitters will have three minutes in each of the first two rounds, and two minutes in the championship round.
Also, the bonus time for each hitter will no longer be clocked. Instead, the hitter will continue until he’s made three outs — a swing that generates a result other than a home run. A fourth out can be earned with a 425-foot home run in the bonus time. This change will allow for an unlimited number of home runs in the bonus period, meaning that a hitter who is behind will always have a chance to make up a deficit.
Additionally, the first round will no longer be a head-to-head bracket. Instead, the top four first-round scores from the eight hitters will advance to the semifinal bracket, with ties broken by the longest home run in the first round.
Toronto‘s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 Home Run Derby in Seattle. He and his father are the first father-son duo to win the Derby, which is typically among the highest-rated MLB events every year.
Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson became the first player to publicly commit to participating in the 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on July 15, making the announcement himself during Sunday Night Baseball. Henderson is among the MLB home run leaders with 26.
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Rachel Doerrie, ESPN
The 2024 NHL draft was a spectacle in every sense of the word. Count me among those who wouldn’t mind seeing the event held at Sphere going forward. I understand wanting to spread league events around, but when you hit a grand slam like the NHL did here, don’t mess with what works.
In terms of the selection process itself, some teams had fantastic drafts, extracting value with each selection, while other teams left value on the table with the talent available.
When considering a grade for each team, the totality of their work was considered: quality of players drafted, selection value and value derived from trades. Here’s our grade for every front office, with insights on particular high-value picks and trades (as well as questionable ones).
Jump to a team:
ANA | BOS | BUF | CGY
CAR | CHI | COL | CBJ
DAL | DET | EDM | FLA
LA | MIN | MTL | NSH
NJ | NYI | NYR | OTT
PHI | PIT | SJ | SEA
STL | TB | TOR | UTA
VAN | VGK | WSH | WPG
ATLANTIC DIVISION
When you have only four draft selections and three are in the 100s, it is difficult to come away with much.
Dean Letourneau was a quintessential Boston pick, even if it was a bit of a reach. The potential for Tage Thompson 2.0 has to be enticing for a franchise that needs help down the middle. He’s going to take a few years, but there is a real chance Letourneau is a unicorn, and Boston took that swing.
Elliott Groenewold, Jonathan Morello and Loke Johansson don’t have NHL projections, but you don’t expect that from midround picks. It’s a long shot for those three to make it, but they are fine bets.
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