NEW YORK — On a brisk and breezy night, the randomness of postseason baseball descended upon Citi Field in a most unexpected form. The PadresLight hitters for the majority of the regular-season, bombarded Max ScherzerWith a quartet home runs, each one more spectacular and louder than the previous. The noise from the visiting dugout grew louder, however.
This was not the pitcher, but Daniel Camarena, a San Diego-area native. taking Scherzer deepPetco Park loaded the bases last July, marking the culmination of an extremely turbulent and ultimately disastrous season. This was something entirely different.
This was an underachieving, talented offense that blitzed a future Hall of Famer just the right time. This was a closely watched lineup, taking full advantage of a blank page. This was an underdog who stole the life from a packed building.
This was a huge boost in confidence, just before the potential clincher. These were four unexpected jolts of confidence amid the excitement from October competition
None were so unlikely as they seem. Trent Grisham’s second-inning solo shot against Scherzer.
“I don’t think anybody goes out there and expects, hey, we’re gonna go hit four homers off of him tonight,” Grisham said after the Padres’ 7-1 drubbing of the MetsIn Game 1 of Wild Card Series.
