SAN DIEGO — The roller-coaster ride through the San Diego Zoo was complete for the Mets with Josh Edgin’s tumbling act in Sunday’s ninth inning.
Long gone was the Mets’ relief of finally getting a hit, avoiding Odrisamer Despaigne’s flirtation with history, and the subsequent jubilation of tying the game.
Instead, the Mets were left disappointed after an off-balance Edgin tripped and couldn’t field Seth Smith’s chopper, allowing Cameron Maybin to score the winning run in a 2-1 loss to the Padres at Petco Park.
The lefty Edgin’s momentum was taking him toward third base when he unleashed the pitch to Smith, who hit a squib to the first-base side.
“It’s one of those no-man’s-land plays — for me, anyway,” Edgin said after the Mets’ second straight loss.
Daniel Murphy might have had a shot at the ball if Edgin hadn’t touched it, but admitted it would have been a difficult play.
Vic Black walked Carlos Quentin to begin the winning rally and then mishandled Alexi Amarista’s bunt, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. But the Mets were in solid shape after Chase Headley hit into a double play, with the pinch-runner Maybin advancing to third.
“The walk is what killed us,” Black said.
Jeurys Familia escaped a jam in the eighth, stranding Will Venable at third base after his leadoff triple. Chris Denorfia struck out before Jake Goebbert was intentionally walked and Chris Nelson hit into a double play.
Despaigne, using an assortment of offspeed pitches that kept the Mets off-balance, was within four outs of a no-hitter before Murphy doubled in the eighth. The rookie fed the Mets a steady diet of changeups, many of which were in the 65 mph range.
“You just don’t see stuff at this level that is that offspeed,” manager Terry Collins said. “You’re looking at 13, 14 miles per hour difference on a good changeup, but it can be 20 mph on that curveball and it’s just that tough to adjust to.”
Despaigne went 7 ²/₃ innings and allowed one run on two hits with three walks and two hit batters, but couldn’t end a Padres no-hit drought dating to the franchise’s inception in 1969 that reached 7,264 games. The Padres are the only major league team without a no-hitter.
David Wright’s RBI single in the eighth that made it 1-1 removed the focus from Despaigne’s no-no bid and put the Mets in position to win the game. Wright had been 0-for-11 to begin the second half before delivering a solid line drive to center.
Bobby Abreu and Juan Lagares walked in the seventh, after Lucas Duda was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, but Despaigne escaped the bases-loaded jam on Ruben Tejada’s comebacker.
Despaigne was making his fifth major league start after signing with the Padres as a minor league free agent on May 2. In his previous four starts with the Padres, he pitched at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer.
Despaigne’s gem came a day after Tyson Ross limited the Mets to four hits over seven shutout innings in the Padres’ 6-0 victory.
Tejada was hit by a pitch in the third and Curtis Granderson walked in the sixth, representing the Mets’ only base runners against Despaigne heading to the seventh.
Zack Wheeler started and allowed only one run on eight hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings. It was his fourth straight outing of at least six innings and allowing one run.
Yasmani Grandal homered leading off the fourth to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. It was the second straight game with a homer for Grandal, who unloaded against Dillon Gee on Saturday.
“We’ve got seven more on the road,” said Collins, whose Mets will open a three-game series Monday night in Seattle. “We can still have a good road trip and we’ve just got to pick ourselves up and get ready for [Monday] night.”