The Mets had an incredible comeback on Monday night, opening up their three-game set in St. Louis against the Cardinals with a 5-2 win.
Here are the takeaways…
– It was a slow first eight innings for the Mets — they had just six baserunners in that span, and Pete Alonso had two of their first four hits as Miles Mikolas shut them down for seven scoreless innings.
– After Trevor May allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in the bottom of the eighth after Max Scherzer‘s gem (more on that soon), the Mets looked dead in the water. But after Eduardo Escobar singled with one out in the ninth and took second base on a defensive indifference with two down, the rally started.
Mark Canha reached on an infield single to third, but a rare Nolan Arenado error sent Escobar home. Jeff McNeil then doubled, and with the lead run on second, Dominic Smith pinch-hit for Tomas Nido. He roped a ball down the first base line, and four-time Gold Glove winner Goldschmidt made a diving stop. But the flip wasn’t in time, and not only did Jankowski score, but McNeil never stopped running, and his aggressive base running gave the Mets a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals then brought in lefty T.J. MacFarland to face Brandon Nimmo, but on the first pitch, he went deep and gave the Mets a 5-2 lead. All five runs were unearned and scored with two outs thanks to the error by the nine-time Gold Glove third baseman.
– Scherzer was dominant from start to finish. He retired the first eight batters he faced, and then after allowing a walk and single consecutively, he again retired another eight in a row. In his seven scoreless innings and 101 pitches of art, he struck out 10 while walking just one and allowing only two hits — both of them to Paul Goldschmidt. With the gem, he lowered his ERA to 1.80.
– After the rally, Edwin Diaz came in to finish the comeback, and did so, striking out two batters en route to clinching the victory.
– Despite the win, Robinson Cano did go 0-for-4, and is now hitting .184 with a .225 on-base percentage. With Smith’s clutch at-bat, and Cano’s continuing struggles, it’s hard to imagine their respective roles remaining the same.
– The Mets are now 13-5 on the season, which is good for the second-best winning percentage in the majors.
HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT’S NEXT
Chris Bassitt will look to win the series on Tuesday, as the Cards will have Jordan Hicks on the bump. First pitch is set for 7:45 p.m., and you can watch on SNY and the SNY App.