BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Midway through his postgame concert at Citi Field, rapper 50 Cent called out to the crowd.
“Make some noise!” he shouted. “You know what I’m sayin’?”
He might’ve delivered the same message to the New York Mets.
The Mets were shut down by a starter making his second big league appearance and the San Diego bullpen, managing only two hits and striking out 13 times Saturday in a 5-0 loss to the Padres.
“The way they threw the ball, mixed in with some poor at-bats, and they were able to throw up a lot of zeros,” Mets star David Wright said.
Jesse Hahn earned his first big league victory, pitching one-hit ball for six innings and contributing an RBI single as San Diego ended a five-game losing streak.
The Mets were held to Ruben Tejada’s infield hit leading off the first and Lucas Duda’s bloop single down the left field line in the ninth. New York lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
“I’ve pretty much exhausted all the things I have heard that work,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Quit worrying about hitting the homer, think about making contact. Certainly, we didn’t do that.”
Chris Young struck out in all four at-bats, tying a career high, and drew loud boos.
“It’s just a rough day and it happens from time to time. It was unfortunate the way we swung the bats, and myself personally,” he said.
“You’re out there busting your back, trying to do your best. As a player, that’s all you can do and you can’t control anything else,” he said. “A lot of negative energy coming my way, but I’ll be professional and try to keep pushing and playing hard for this team and you hope that someone can turn that negative energy into positive energy to support us and help us fight through this.”
Hahn (1-1) worked six innings and relievers Dale Thayer, Joaquin Benoit and Huston Street each went an inning. Called up from Double-A to pitch, Hahn struck out seven and walked three. The 24-year-old righty escaped his biggest jam by fanning Matt den Dekker with the bases loaded to end the fourth.
At 6-foot-5 with socks pulled nearly up to his knees, Hahn won in front of his parents and friends from Groton, Connecticut, where his high school teammate was injured Mets ace Matt Harvey. Hahn missed the 2011 season after having Tommy John surgery, and Harvey watched from the dugout while he rehabs from the same procedure.
Hahn said Harvey sent him a text message before the game wishing him good luck. After Hahn was done, Harvey texted congratulations.
Hahn blooped an opposite-field single to right with two outs in the fourth for his first pro hit. Cameron Maybin easily scored on the single, and was trotting back to the dugout when plate umpire Dan Bellino flipped him Hahn’s souvenir.
Maybin later showed off some alert baserunning, winding up all the way at third on an infield grounder. Yonder Alonso broke from third on the bouncer and eventually was tagged out, but he prolonged the rundown long enough to allow Maybin to keep running.
Chase Headley hit a solo homer, an RBI single and scored twice. Alonso hit two doubles.
Zack Wheeler (2-7) remained winless in eight home starts since last August. He’s averaging an NL-high 18 pitches per inning, and threw 100 in five busy innings.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “I didn’t have a comfortable rhythm. I didn’t do very well.”
San Diego began the day last in the majors in batting average and runs, and just three starters were hitting over .215.
The Padres totaled seven runs during their recent skid. This was the first time in 14 games they scored more than four runs in a game.
NOTES: San Diego RHP Ian Kennedy (5-7, 3.63) faces RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-0, 2.95) in Sunday’s series finale. … A stage was set up behind second base for 50 Cent. Last month, the left-hander threw out the first pitch before a Mets game and his toss sailed far, far wide of the plate and wound up on blooper reels. There were plenty of wrappers on the field during the game, too, blown around by gusting winds. … Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona presented Army Lt. Col. Thomas Sullivan with a flag that was flown over Citi Field during an on-field ceremony in the middle of the third inning. … Mets pinch-hitter Curtis Granderson popped out, ending his streak of reaching base in 24 games.
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