Joe Musgrove's elbow is just fine, thank you. His glove is not too shabby, either.
On the same day the Padres got Yu Darvish back in their clubhouse, the Padres got an incredible start from another ace who's coming off an injury in a 7-0 win over the Mets, snapping a short two-game losing skid and getting their first win over the New York this season.
Musgrove, making his third start since returning to the rotation, had no-hit stuff. He nearly had perfect game stuff. The Padres righty allowed just one baserunner in 7.0 innings, a 5th inning double by Starling Marte. Other than that it was a whole bunch of bagels on the board for the Metropolitans.
Musgrove struck out nine, didn't walk anyone, and was efficient as humanly possible. He only threw 75 pitches and would very likely been given a chance to complete a shutout on his own if he wasn't working back from a prolonged absence.
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Oh, and he also made one of the best defensive plays you'll ever see from a pitcher.
Francisco Lindor hit a dribbler up the 1st base line. Musgrove tracked it down and, while sliding, made a glove flip to Jake Cronenworth at 1st base for the out. Joe popped up smiling like the cat who caught the canary as 40,000-plus at Petco Park erupted in appreciation for the effort.
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Speaking of effort, the San Diego offense put in a good one. Luis Arraez led off with a home run, the 8th leadoff bomb of his career and the start of a 3-hit night for Arraez. He wasn't the only one swinging a hot bat.
In the 2nd inning, Kyle Higashioka launched his 15th homer of the season just over the left field wall for a 2-run homer and a 3-0 lead. Jake Cronenworth followed with an RBI single to score rookie shortstop Mason McCoy and make in a 4-0 game.
One inning later, Arraez and Higashioka struck again, each coming up with RBI knocks and pumping the lead up to 6-0, allowing them to really enjoy watching Musgrove work. San Diego got one more in the 8th inning when Manny Machado's third single of the night brought home Tyler Wade.
There was a scary moment in the 3rd inning. David Peralta hit a 100 MPH missile right back at New York starting pitcher Paul Blackburn's head. Blackburn luckily got his right hand up to deflect it. He had to leave with what the team called a right hand contusion. He will be examined again over the weekend.
The Padres can secure at least a series split on Saturday evening with Michael King on the mound against Mets lefty David Peterson.
