Good morning from New York,

“It doesn’t compare,” Trent Grisham said when assessing the raucous party inside the visitors’ clubhouse at Citi Field last night after the Padres won their wild-card series against the Mets with the festivities that occurred a week earlier in San Diego after the team clinched its playoff berth. “This is where it all counts. I mean, win and keep going forward. This is what it’s about, and you can see on everybody’s faces.”

You could see it, hear it, feel it and smell it.

Manny Machado was drenched. His teammates had chanted “MVP, MVP” and showered him in beer and champagne.

A short while later, he circled the room looking for Joe Musgrove.

“Hey Joe,” he shouted when he found him. “I got that sticky stuff right here.”

Machado shook a green bottle and sprayed it at Musgrove’s chest as a half-dozen teammates surrounded Musgrove and poured more liquid over his head.

Ha-Seong Kim had danced and shouted for 15 minutes, and later he was shivering .

“It’s an amazing experience,” he said. “But I’m freezing right now.”

There was no one more soaked than Grisham. Arguably, no one deserved to be more soaked.

“I’ve never seen that — a guy go from A to Z and when the intensity was ratcheted up a hundredfold,” manager Bob Melvin said of Grisham. “You have to really, really understand how much character is involved in something like that. Beat down going into the series and ends up being basically the MVP. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Grisham was 2-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch in his four trips to the plate last night. He reached base eight times in 12 plate appearances in the series, including the home run he hit in Game 1 and the homer he hit in Game 2.

“That was the best I’ve played so far,” Grisham said. “It was a short span. It was three games, and we’re looking to play for another month. So let’s just keep it up.”

He also made several fine catches in center field, which is one of the reasons he was the easy choice for Melvin to start in all three games in the large outfield at Citi Field. None of Grisham’s plays was better than the one in last night’s fifth inning that effectively shut down the Mets’ only offensive threat of the game.

Trent Grisham ran 95 feet and into the wall to save a run. pic.twitter.com/LaQeArvCvo

Grisham reached base eight times in his final 55 plate appearances in the regular season and finished the season with the lowest batting average (.184) and fifth-highest strikeout rate (one every 3.49 plate appearances) of any qualifying hitter in the major leagues.

Grisham had worn the goggles and smiled and hugged his teammates and coaches last Sunday inside the Padres’ clubhouse at Petco Park. But he was mostly dry and relative to last night, he had hardly participated.

“It feels good to contribute and be a part of the team,” he said last night. “That’s what I wanted all year long, just to be a part and help contribute and help do what we’re doing right now.”

If you want to see a bunch of excellent photos from the game and ensuing celebration, check out KC Alfred’s photo gallery (here).

Machado tweaked his right knee when he swung and missed at a 1-1 slider from Trevor May in the top of the ninth. After striking out on the next pitch, he played third base in the top of the ninth. Machado fielded Starling Marte’s grounder and threw to first base for the final out.

There was a modicum of concern regarding how much he might be affected in the NLDS, but there was virtually no doubt about his playing status.

Machado has not been on the injured list since 2014. He suffered a severe ankle injury in June, missed nine games and then played through pain much of July.

Machado appeared to be walking unimpeded during last night’s postgame celebration. Asked how the knee felt, he smiled and said, “Good.”

This is not what you want to see if you are the Padres or a fan... Manny Machado swings and misses awkwardly and was walking gingerly to the dugout after striking out on the next pitch. He just walked back to the clubhouse, something to keep an eye on. pic.twitter.com/1OnHq4TLEL

In his first postseason start, Musgrove pitched what he considered the game of his life.

“He was as locked in as I’ve ever seen him,” Machado said. “I thought he was gonna throw a no-hitter. It took me back a little bit to that night in Texas. That’s the guy we wanted on the mound today, and he delivered.”

Yes, that is saying something, since Musgrove did throw the only no-hitter in Padres history. But he said he was better last night than he ever had been.

“It feels great,” he said. “It feels a lot better now than it did before the game. I was sick to my stomach all day leading up to this. … I don’t know, it’s just something I’ve been preparing for for a long time. You go over in your head so many times as a kid about getting the ball in the biggest moment on the biggest stage. This is something we do a lot of visualizing on in the off-season is moments like this.”

Musgrove alluded to his offseason workouts with catcher Austin Nola and fellow starter Mike Clevinger.

You can read about Musgrove, a Grossmont High alumnus, becoming just the fifth pitcher in major league history to throw seven shutout innings in his first playoff start and all the drama therein in my game story (here).

The midgame substance check requested by Mets manager Buck Showalter was detailed in the game story, but it is certainly worth revisiting.

You can watch the whole ordeal here:

Mets manager Buck Showalter called for a substance check on Joe Musgrove. The umpires looked at Musgrove's hand, glove, hat and ears. They found nothing and Musgrove remained in the game. pic.twitter.com/UVyzzuTK3T

“We have privy to a lot of things that go in that direction, obviously,” Showalter said after the game. “I love him as a pitcher, always have. That’s the only thing I kind of, I feel kind of bad about it. But it won’t cast anything. He’s too good a pitcher, and they’re too good. Without getting into a lot of things, the spin rates and different things that I’m sure you’re all aware of when you see something that jumps out at you, I get a lot of information in the dugout.

“I’m charged with doing what’s best for the New York Mets. If it makes me look however it makes me look or whatever, I’m going to do it every time and live with the consequences. I’m not here to not hurt somebody’s feelings. I’m going to do what’s best for our players and the New York Mets. I felt like that was best for us right now. There’s some pretty obvious reasons why it was necessary.”

Musgrove’s average spin rate on his slider was up 247 rpm. In fact, the spin on all his pitches was up at least 103 rpm. It is elevated spin rate that can be helped by using foreign substances on a ball, and spin rate is what determines how much a pitch moves.

“There’s a lot of adrenaline in a game like that,” said Melvin, who vehemently defended Musgrove. (Those quotes are in my game story.)

A sign that Musgrove was amped could be found in his velocity. The average speed of all six of his pitches was higher than his season average. Increased velocity also means increased spin. The velocity increase included a 1.9 mph uptick on his changeup, which is not something a pitcher wants.

Musgrove acknowledged Showalter’s maneuver piqued him a bit.

After striking out Tomas Nido for the second out, Musgrove did make a gesture toward the Mets dugout that does not mean anything nice.

Joe Musgrove with a little gesture to the Mets dugout! pic.twitter.com/9VBGYq8FwE

And on his way off the field after the inning, Musgrove briefly looked over his shoulder and yelled a couple words toward Showalter.

“Sometimes you just find little things throughout the course of the game to motivate you and keep you going and that was one of them,” Musgrove said of his emotions in those moments.

Afterward, he mostly recalled the incident graciously.

“They were having a lot of trouble squaring me up,” he said. “I feel like that was his last attempt at trying to push me out of the game there. They took their shot. I don’t know. The only thing I have to say is you’d better be very confident that no one on your side is using anything if you’re going to call out someone on our side.”

That was a sentiment many Padres players and coaches had. So consider this potentially something that could crop back up when the teams meet next season.

Musgrove’s teammates were offended for him.

“It’s low, in my opinion,” closer Josh Hader said. “… You don’t check a dude just because you think of something, just because you’re losing or trying to get him off his grind because he’s dominating his game.”

Said Grisham: “It pissed all of us off. It seemed bush league to us.”

Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla had this to say:

I’ll leave this here…. https://t.co/O0RTORjpsw

While it was classic Showalter and perfect grist for the New York media — as was a 101-win team going one-and-out in the playoffs — the controversy ended up being a footnote in Musgrove’s gem.

“Everything I’ve done my entire career is for moments like this,” he said. “And for it to come in a San Diego jersey means the world to me.”

Melvin started Wil Myers at first base for the second time in the series because he believed Myers provided the best defense at the position.

Myers rewarded him with four fine plays, two of which could be considered exceptional.

“It was good to be in the game and to be able to make some plays and important plays as well,” said Myers, who was 0-for-4 in both his starts. “Joe was doing a good job with the lefties getting them to roll over the ball. I had to make sure I was ready to go over there at all times.”

In the second inning, Myers barehanded a grounder that bounced off the bag and flipped the ball to Musgrove for the second out.

Didn’t Wil Myers play first base full-time at one point? What happened there? pic.twitter.com/fqzng7fHFr

With one on and nobody out in the seventh, Myers dove toward the line to grab a grounder by Francisco Lindor and stepped on the bag for the inning’s first out.

“The dive was big,” Myers said when asked which play was his favorite. “That could have been second and third no outs and Pete Alonso up in a 4-0 game. I thought that was the biggest play for me specifically. I think that’s the one that kind of helped stop the momentum there.”

He also knocked down an awkwardly spinning 95.7 mph grounder by Daniel Vogelbach, grabbed the ball and made the first out of the third inning.

“I’m just playing goalie over there,” Myers told Musgrove at one point in the game.

Myers, who was the Padres’ primary first baseman in 2016 and ’17 before being moved to the outfield when the team signed Eric Hosmer in ’18, is a bit unorthodox in how he defends the position. But Melvin is a fan of him there, and Myers’ teammates feel the same.

“I love it,” Soto said after laughing loudly. “He’s just amazing how he is blocking the ball and everything there. I saw him and I love it, every second of it.”

Said Musgrove: “He’s very athletic at first. He’s a really good athlete in general, but I had never seen him play first base till a couple months ago and he got put in there. I love having him at first. He gets it done. Doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or not, as long as you get it done.”

The Padres’ flight for Los Angeles took off shortly before 2 a.m. They will have a light workout this afternoon at Dodger Stadium and play Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Tuesday.

Game 2 is Wednesday, also in Los Angeles, and Game 3 in the best-of-five series will be Friday at Petco Park. That will be the first home playoff game in San Diego played in front of fans since the 2006 NL Division Series.

The Padres seemed genuinely pleased to be able to play again in front of the home crowd.

“We talked about that in the meeting before the game,” Myers said. “We wanted to bring a game back to San Diego. We were able to go out there and make that happen.”

The bottom three batters in the Padres’ order went to the plate 11 times last night. They hit four singles, walked four times and were hit by a pitch.

They made three outs, including Austin Nola’s sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning.

“We have some big names in the top middle portion,” Melvin said. “But for us to succeed and win a series like this, it takes everybody, and that includes the bottom of the order.”

Nola’s two-run single in the first inning came after he fouled off three 0-2 pitches.

“That’s a huge momentum swing in this game,” Melvin said. “Fighting off, fouling off pitches, getting himself in a position to just try to get a barrel on one with the bases loaded. In a game like this, scoring first, getting that first big hit and breaking through is monumental.”

Said Machado: “It’s gonna take all of us to win. We’re gonna continue to do that. It’s beautiful to see that, that everybody’s trying to win that ballgame.”

Soto took it on himself to lay down a bunt in the fifth inning, thinking he could possibly get a single and would do no worse than move Jurickson Profar to second base.

Soto ended up getting a sacrifice bunt, and Profar ended up scoring on Machado’s single that made it 4-0.

“Anything that it takes, we’re gonna do it,” said Soto, who went 2-for-4. “For me, I think that was the right show to get that bunt down and get another run. My team just picked me up behind me, and it was a great feeling.”

Melvin chuckled at the mention of the bunt. It certainly was not his idea.

“I think it was just trying to move a guy over and try to win a baseball game,” Melvin said. “Personal accolades are all thrown to the wind in a game like this. This is all about whatever we can do to win a game.”

Since it was one series and they know they have a ways to go and even better teams than the Mets to play, no one was going around talking about how no one believed in them.

But it was close to true. If there was a prominent national media member or person on MLB Network or ESPN that picked the Padres to beat the Mets, they evidently forgot to say so.

“I did notice,” Machado said. “Here we are. Still going. I think ultimately it doesn’t matter. We believe in each other in here as a group. That’s what we’re gonna continue to do is keep playing baseball one day at a time.”

There probably won’t be anyone picking them this week either.

All right, that’s it for me. My flight takes off soon.

We will have plenty of coverage on our Padres page today and tomorrow, but no newsletter until Wednesday morning.

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