Mets’ Young Gives Up Only 3 Hits, Still Suffers 26th Loss in a Row

Anthony Young has had to deal with bad defense, bad weather, bad timing and bad pitches.

But nothing compares to the New York Met right-hander’s bad fortune on Wednesday.

He lost for the 26th time in a row, falling 2-0 to the San Diego Padres in a game that again suggested his run of poor luck is a matter of location. It hits him whenever he goes to the pitcher’s mound.

“It was one of the best games I’ve pitched all year, probably in two years, but I came away with a loss again,” said Young, who has the longest string of defeats in major league history. He almost upstaged Andy Benes, who nearly pitched a no-hitter through eight innings, allowing only Jeff Kent’s infield single in the second.

Young (0-12) retired 23 consecutive batters between Padre singles in the first and eighth. He gave up three hits, struck out seven, walked none, threw 74 strikes out of 100 pitches. But he gave up a two-out, opposite-field home run in the eighth to Archi Cianfrocco, the eighth-place hitter who had started the year in the minors and entered the game batting .196, with eight career homers.

“He pitched smart, he used all his pitches, and he used them in the right situations,” catcher Todd Hundley said.