NEW YORK -- For a day, all was right with the New York Mets. Well, except for Daisuke Matsuzaka's stomach.
Carlos Torres picked up the ailing Matsuzaka by logging four relief innings and Curtis Granderson homered in his return to the starting lineup, as the Mets won the rubber game against the San Diego Padres, 3-1, on Father’s Day at Citi Field before an announced crowd of 38,987.
Welcome back: In his first action since getting pulled from Thursday’s game with lower-back stiffness, Jenrry Mejia delivered a six-out save. He retired all six batters he faced en route to his seventh save of the season. Mejia also had a two-inning save against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 27.
Uneasy feeling: Matsuzaka received a visit from trainer Ray Ramirez during the first inning and was pulled after completing the 17-pitch, scoreless frame that included two walks. He was suffering from a “severe upset stomach,” the team announced.
Kathy Willens/Associated PressDaisuke Matsuzaka, dealing with a severely upset stomach, gets a first-inning mound visit from Terry Collins and the team's trainer.
It marked the shortest start by a Met since Jeremy Hefner surrendered seven runs and did not record an out against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on Sept. 20, 2012.
Working overtime: Torres had no reason to beat himself up Sunday. He replaced Matsuzaka and limited San Diego to one run in a 63-pitch effort spanning four innings. The workload was substantially more than his previous season-high -- 38 pitches on Thursday, in the extra-inning meltdown against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Torres allowed three straight singles to begin Sunday’s appearance, including a run-scoring infield single by Rene Rivera. He then stranded two in scoring position and kept the Padres off the scoreboard for the remainder of his appearance.
Torres departed with a 3-1 lead after five innings.
He had surrendered four runs in the 13th inning against the Brewers in his previous appearance, prompting him to punch himself repeatedly in the head in the dugout in frustration afterward.
Torres has been a workhorse. His 44 2/3 innings this season are the most in the major leagues in a relief role, leapfrogging Oakland’s Dan Otero (41 1/3). Torres is on pace to pitch 105 relief innings.
Vic Black overcame two walks to begin his appearance and added two scoreless innings, despite a pair of defensive adventures from shortstop Wilmer Flores behind him in the seventh inning.
Grandish return: Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time as a Met, Granderson produced a home run to open the bottom of the first inning against Ian Kennedy. It was the 25th leadoff homer of Granderson’s career, and his first since Sept. 27, 2009 with the Detroit Tigers. It was the first by a Met this season.
Granderson (2-for-3, two walks) had missed three straight starts with a left calf injury.
Bobby Abreu added an RBI double in the two-run first.
Slumping: David Wright went 0-for-3 with a walk, including flying out to right field to end the sixth inning, leaving the bases loaded. He is 2-for-39 in his past 12 games.
Big fans: After Chris Young started in left field Saturday and went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, Andrew Brown started there Sunday and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts before being replaced by Eric Campbell on a double-switch when Black entered for the sixth inning.
What’s next: The Mets travel to St. Louis for a three-game series. Jacob deGrom (0-3, 3.44 ERA), still searching for his first major league win, opposes right-hander Carlos Martinez in an 8:10 p.m. ET game Monday at Busch Stadium. Martinez (0-3, 4.67) takes the spot start for Adam Wainwright, who is being skipped because of a tender elbow.