Amazing Away Games: St. Louis, Busch lll. No Score after 18 innings.

That's right. no score after 18 innings! The Mets finally score in the 19th off of a position player. But of course, the closer, Frankie Rodriguez, who seemed to get warm for each of ten innings every time the Mets threatened to score, blew the save in the 19th! How did we get here?

April 17, 2010. Mets 2. Cardinals 1 (20).

During a very Met-like performance, the Mets had exactly one hit going into the 12th inning. Angel Pagan had dunked a fly ball single to center in the sixth.

Cardinal pitcher Jaime Garcia threw 7 one-hit innings, and his ERA stood at 0.69! Before we start conjuring up the ghost of fellow Redbird Bob Gibson, remember this was April 17. Garcia only had a few starts so far.

But then again, it was no fluke. He won 13 games with a 2.70 ERA that year and finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting. Only winner Buster Posey and Jason Heyward finished ahead of Garcia. Ike Davis of the Mets finished 7th. Garcia would also win 13 games in 2011.

Let's debate if Posey should be in the Hall of Fame! OK, another time, but I say no. Only 11 years and 1,500 hits. But Rookie of the Year! Three rings! Seven of the 11 years with MVP votes including an MVP award! Career .302 average! A Gold Glove! You are starting to change my mind about Buster.

Mets ace Johan Santana also threw 7 scoreless, allowing 4 hits and striking out 9.

The Mets bullpen bent, but did not break. The Cards had runners on every inning, but went 1-18 with runners in scoring position! They left 22 on base while scoring only once in 20 innings.

I hope you remember these Mets pen names: Ryota Igarashi (1.1 innings, 3 base runners); Perpetual Pedro Feliciano (1.1 innings, 2 runners); Fernando Nieve (2.1 innings, 3 runners); Hisanori Takahashi (2 innings, 3 runners); Jenrry Mejia (2 innings, 4 runners); and Raul Valdes (2innings, 1 runner).

You know I wasn't going to ignore Mejia. He was making one of his first career appearances in this game and became the closer in 2014. BUT, he was suspended for the first 80 games in 2015 for PED use. Immediately he was suspended AGAIN, almost as soon as he returned in July 2015 for more PED usage. Incredibly, he was suspended a third time in February of 2016 and was the first player given a lifetime ban. This guy obviously could not pitch without the stuff!

He later applied for reinstatement, which was granted by Commissioner Manfred in 2018. Mejia did pitch in the farm system for Boston in 2019. But a 6.02 ERA didn't prove he was ready for the majors. Believe it or not, he is still pitching this year in Venezuela. According to news reports, he barely escaped death during the Venezuelan earthquakes in June while he was trapped in an elevator.

In the bottom of the 14th, it certainly looked like the Cards would finally win it. After a leadoff double by new centerfielder Joe Mather (believe me, you will hear his name again) and an error, they had runners on second and third with no outs. After Takahashi struck out the next two batters, Mets manager Jerry Manuel had a MOST DIFFICULT choice! Reigning MVP Albert Pujols was due up with first base open. Due to the long extra innings, the Cardinal pitcher, Blake Hawksworth was up next. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Just kidding, Pujols was walked intentionally and the pitcher struck out looking.

The Cards ran out of pitching in the 18th, with infielder Felipe Lopez taking the mound and longtime starting pitcher Kyle Lohse (rhymes with kosh as in kosher) moving to left field. Lopez got out of the 18th, allowing only one hit, of course, to the relief pitcher Valdes.

Mather, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 10th inning AND HAD SIX AT BATS was now pitching for the Cards. This was his third position in extra innings. The Mets could only score one run, on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Francoeur. The Mets did not get a hit that inning. They loaded the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch. So Mets!

Finally they could bring in closer Rodriguez. Of course, he walked the first batter! But the backup catcher, Henry Blanco, could really throw and the runner was caught stealing! Do you remember Blanco's nickname? It was Hank White.

But Pujols doubled. And after Lohse was retired, the Mets had only one out to go. Future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina had caught all 19 innings, but he had enough left to single in Pujols and tie the game at 1, the Cardinal 's first run of the afternoon! (I told you this was an amazing game!).

In the 20th, the Mets could still only score one run off the position player Mather. After Angel Pagan and Mike Jacobs both singled, Jose Reyes hit a sac fly to give the Mets the lead, 2-1.

Rodriguez did not come out for the bottom of the 20th. Instead it was starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey. Big Pelf would go on to win 15 games in 2010, but for his entire career, which included stops in Minnesota, Detroit, and the Chicago White Sox, he went 68-103.

Pelfrey retired the infielders/outfielders/pitchers? Who knows at this point, Lopez and Mather.

In Mets fashion, nothing is easy. Brendan Ryan singled and Skip Schumaker (current Rangers manager. Say hi to Nimmo for us) walked. Outfielder Ryan Ludwick finally grounded out to second baseman Luis Castillo to end the marathon. Just writing Castillo has me screaming into a pillow. If you don't know why, ask a Yankee fan.

Some interesting names in the box score: Fernando Tatis, Sr. started at first base for the Mets, who was later replaced by future manager Alex Cora. Starting pitchers John Maine (pinch ran) and Jon Niese (pinch hit) also played. Another famous son of a big leaguer, Gary Matthews, Jr. pinch hit for Cora.

Reyes, Francouer, and Jason Bay (I'm screaming into the pillow again) went a combined 0-21.

Colby Rasmus started in the outfield for St. Louis. His daughter, Kinley, made headlines in this year's Little League World Series.

Do you remember this game? I'd like to read your comments in the section below.