The San Diego Padres go into New York and put an end to the New York Mets' baseball season.
On Sunday night, the Padres' season was on the line at Citi Field against the Mets for a trip to the National League Division match-up against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The man of the night was Joe Musgrove, the hometown player, who was checked mid-game for a potential "cheating" scandal after the sight of his ear being wet, which the Mets wanted to look into.
Musgrove on his impressive night:
“I had a lot of stuff working, I located the ball really well, it all comes down to execution. The game plan was there, but it’s not worth much if you don’t execute it.
In regards to the ear-check, Musgrove says that he wasn't surprised that the Mets would get so desperate to request such thing, especially with the reputation Buck Showalter has of wanting to check pitchers in the past.
The San Diego native pitcher says it was delightful to stick it to the crowd after proving that he was not cheating, but rather, he was simply delivering a masterclass.
“I’ve seen him do it before checking the pitchers, but I get it cause they were on their last leg at that point. It motivated me, it fired me up. They were doing everything they could to get me out of there, so I took the opportunity to stick it to the crowd.”
Up next is their division rivals, Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that this Padres team expected to face at some point in October if a deep playoff run developed.
“They’re a tough team, we know what we’re getting into,” Joe said. “We’ve played them better down the stretch, but then again, it comes down to execution and composure, getting ahead early in the game with a lead with our starters.”
Manny Machado praised Musgrove for his heroic performance after the game, crediting his competitive nature for continuing his performance despite the late mid-game distraction that came with the ear-check.
"Joe is one of the most prepared guys. As a team and city, I don't think we wanted anyone else on that mount other than Joe. They were trying to slow him down, but he was a competitor and the rest was history after that.
