\NEW YORK -- The television in the visiting manager's office late Wednesday night was tuned to the postgame press conference with New York Mets manager Terry Collins. A few feet away, San Diego Padres interim manager Pat Murphy sat at his desk gazing at his laptop.

"Update!" Murphy said. "Update! Update!"

It was a perfect summation of a weird night at Citi Field, where the Padres dominated on the field and the Mets generated all the buzz for something that didn't even end up happening.

Third baseman Yangervis Solarte tied a career high with four hits and the Padres scored two runs in each of the first three innings on their way to a 7-3 win over the Mets.

But the big news, or lack thereof, was about the blockbuster deal the Mets (52-49) were reportedly about to pull off with the Milwaukee Brewers that would have sent infielder Wilmer Flores and injured right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler, who is out for the season after Tommy John surgery, to the Brewers in exchange for center fielder Carlos Gomez.

Midway through the game, multiple news outlets reported the trade was finalized, pending physicals. Shortly thereafter, Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado tweeted a picture of himself and several teammates with Gomez with the caption "on the fly saying bye to a friend."

Gomez's agent, Scott Boras, was at the game and said afterward that Gomez was on a plane but was told by the Brewers to expect to hear a lot about him in the coming hours.

Flores, who started at shortstop, remained in the game even as the news spread. He was greeted with a standing ovation before his final at-bat in the seventh inning and appeared to be crying as he took his position in the eighth.

"During the game, I heard there was a trade and I got emotional," Flores said.

Except there was no trade.

"All's I know is there's no deal," Collins said as he sat down at the podium.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said a few minutes later: "Whatever has been speculated over the course of the evening has not and will not transpire."

Asked if the trade talks with the Brewers are dead, Alderson said, "You can interpret it that way. Yeah."

Perhaps the Padres (48-53), long rumored to be a seller, will get in on acquiring players instead of engaging in a fire sale after their fourth win in five games and their ninth victory in 13 games dating to July 11.

San Diego remained eight games behind San Francisco after the Giants' 5-0 win over, appropriately enough, the Brewers.

"Everybody knows we can do it," said Murphy, who was on his computer reading box scores, not trade rumors. "There's things in there that say we can do it. We've got to be consistent throughout here. Our backs are against the wall a little bit."

The Padres were never threatened Wednesday. Their first three batters -- center fielder Wil Venable, Solarte and right fielder Matt Kemp -- all singled to give San Diego as many hits as it had Tuesday, when Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard threw eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win.

Kemp had an RBI single in the first and left fielder Justin Upton followed with a sacrifice fly, Venable and Solarte had RBI singles in the second, and Upton and first baseman Yonder Alonso homered leading off the third against Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon.

"We've played good baseball as of late," Upton said. "We've been able to win series and we'll go out and try to win a series again (Thursday)."

Upton added an RBI single in the sixth.

Right-hander Tyson Ross (8-9) posted the win after allowing one run, two hits and four walks while striking out five in five innings. He exited because of cramping in his right quad, where he was hit by a comebacker off the bat of Mets center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the fourth inning.

Ross said he could have continued pitching if the game was closer.

"Told (Murphy) I could still go," Ross said. "But well-rested bullpen, get those guys a little bit of work."

Mets first baseman Lucas Duda accounted for all of New York's runs with three solo homers. He is the second Mets player this month to hit three home runs in a game at Citi Field. Nieuwenhuis became the first in franchise history to hit three homers in a home game on July 12.

Colon (9-10) gave up six runs, 10 hits and no walks while striking out one in 2 1/3 innings. It was his shortest start since June 17, 2012, when he threw just two innings for the Oakland Athletics against the Padres.

NOTES: Mets C Travis d'Arnaud (sprained left elbow) went 1-for-5 in his fifth rehab game Wednesday for Double-A Binghamton. He is expected to return to the Mets on Friday, when New York opens a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. ... The Mets are assured of having a winning record at the end of July for the first time since 2011. ... Padres C Austin Hedges caught RHP Tyson Ross for the fourth straight start. Of Hedges' 17 starts, seven were with Ross on the mound. ... Ross made his 22nd start of the season, tying him with his teammate, RHP James Shields, for the most in the majors.