Mets stave off elimination with Game 2 win over Padres

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With their season on the brink, the biggest stars for the New York Mets shined bright.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save New York with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece Saturday night.

"Win or go home," deGrom said. "Love pitching here. Mets fans have been great to me. Didn’t want to disappoint."

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New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) delivers against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of Game 2 of a National League wild-card baseball playoff series, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in New York.  (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II))

Francisco Lindor also went deep, Jeff McNeil laced a critical two-run double and All-Star closer Edwin Díaz entered much earlier than usual to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning.

New York broke open the game by scoring four times in the bottom half, keyed by the bases-loaded double McNeil lined off Adrian Morejon through a drawn-in infield.

Seth Lugo retired cleanup batter Josh Bell on a grounder with the sacks full for the save, ending a game that took 4 hours, 13 minutes.

"It was a close game in the middle innings and then it got away from us there in the seventh," San Diego manager Bob Melvin said.

The teams play a decisive Game 3 on Sunday night at Citi Field, with the winner advancing to a best-of-five NL Division Series against the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Tuesday.

Joe Musgrove is scheduled to start for his hometown Padres against 15-game winner Chris Bassitt.

"Go out there and compete and leave it all