The Mets went back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals, but a three-run 11th inning was the difference in Tuesday’s 7-6 loss at Citi Field.
Here are a few key takeaways …
– With the Mets trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth. Javier Baez led off the inning with a solo homer to left, just over the orange line in left, tying the game 4-4.
Both teams had failed to score in the 10th despite having multiple runners on, but in the 11th the Cards broke through against Jake Reed, as an Edmundo Sosa single made it a 5-4 game. Later, an Andrew Knizner two-run single broke the game open.
Pete Alonso drove in a run with an RBI double to make it a two-run game (and snap an 0-for-20 skid), and Kevin Pillar drove in another, but Albert Almora Jr. grounded out to end the game. Fourteen of the Mets’ last 19 losses have now been by one run.
– The Mets offense got going right from the jump in the first inning against Jake Woodford. After a Jonathan Villar infield single and a base hit from Francisco Lindor set the Mets up with runners on the corners, Michael Conforto flared a single to left field to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
After an Alonso double play, Baez dropped a bunt single, just out of reach of a diving Woodford, to double that lead.
– Marcus Stroman was lights out through the first three innings, holding the Cardinals hitless while striking out the side in the first inning. The Cardinals got to him in the fourth, however, as a Paul Goldschmidt double and Tyler O’Neil single put St. Louis on the board. Later in the inning, a Dylan Carlson sac fly tied the game 2-2.
Stroman gave the Mets 6.0 strong innings, allowing just two earned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk on 89 pitches. His season ERA now stands at 2.88.
– The Mets recaptured the lead in the fifth, as Cardinals reliever Daniel Ponce de Leon walked the bases loaded with one out. Conforto drove in his second and the Mets’ third run of the game with a sac fly to left to score Stroman, but Alonso went down swinging with two runners on to limit the damage.
– Though Baez had his first multi-walk performance since the 2019 season, he had a rough night on the bases. He didn’t slide on a force-out at second base that he could have potentially beaten, and then was later caught stealing when trying to take off before the pitch was delivered.
–Aaron Loup, who has been nothing short of outstanding all season long, needed just seven pitches for a 1-2-3 seventh inning. But Jeurys Familia could not hold that lead in the eighth, allowing a walk and an O’Neil home run to put St. Louis back on top.
Familia allowed another single before Yadier Molina also reached on catcher’s interference, and with that, Familia left the game to boos from the Citi Field crowd. With two on and one out, Trevor May was able to get out of the inning.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets close out their series with the Cardinals at Citi Field on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.
Tylor Megill goes for the Mets against St. Louis lefty Jon Lester.