Dustin Off a Shutout: May Cools Mets' Bats

Cardinals 7 Mets 0 (Citi Field, Flushing NY)

Mets record: 29-37

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Dustin May (4-6)

LP - Freddy Peralta (4-5)

Seat on the Korner: Dustin May

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

It's been an up-and-down year for Cardinals starter Dustin May, who was considered a top pitching prospect some years back before falling victim to a series of arm injuries, including two elbow surgeries. Signed as a free agent in the offseason, May entered the game with a 3-6 record, a 4.59 ERA and rumblings that he could be prime trade bait as the July 31 deadline approaches. But in his last start, May took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Brewers before being tagged for two runs (only one while he was still on the mound). And against the Mets tonight, May looked like the pitcher people predicted he would be seven years ago: six innings, four hits, no runs, six strikeouts and keeping his cool the two times the Mets had runners on second and beyond. So let's give him a seat next to Ralph and have him talk about the winding road from top prospect to journeyman and about what happened to night to make him seem like the old Dustin May.

Need to Know

• The game was the first in a six-game homestand: two more against the Cardinals and three against the division-leading Braves this weekend.

• After making four trips to the West Coast in their first 65 games, the Mets play their next 35 in the Eastern time zone.

• The loss dropped the Mets' June record to 3-4. Going into the game, they had been 7-3 in their past 10, with an MLB-leading 2.75 ERA for June -- including a 1.69 ERA posted by their starters. After Freddy Peralta's performance last night, that ERA almost doubled, to 3.33.

• It was the seventh time this year the Mets have been shut out.

• The Mets activated Francisco Alvarez from the IL, four weeks after he tore his meniscus swinging at a pitch. Hayden Senger was optioned to Syracuse to make room for Alvarez.

• Other injury news: Francisco Lindor appeared closer to being ready for a rehab assignment, but Kodai Senga experienced what sounds like a concerning injury issue that postponed a scheduled rehab start. Senga, on the IL with a back issue, felt what was described as a "small reaction" in his ulnar nerve while throwing between starts.

• Christian Scott takes the mound for the Mets Wednesday night. Thursday, an afternoon game, would normally be Nolan Mclean's turns, but the Mets have posted the starter as TBA, meaning the team may be saving McLean for the Braves series opener.

  
  

Turning Point

We could have given the Seat on the Korner to Cardinals DH Ivan Herrera and his three-hit-plus-two HBP night in which he scored three runs. But instead, we want to highlight how he scored his first run, with some smart baserunning (if we want to be charitable) or some somnolent defensive play by Jared Young at first. The setup: Herrera was hit by a pitch in the top of the third and reached third on a Jordan Walker double as Mets starter Freddy Peralta imploded. With three runs in and only one out, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza brought the infield in and the strategy appeared to have worked when Lars Nootbar hit a grounder to second baseman Marcus Semien. Herrera originally held until Semien committed to throw to first and then broke to the plate. Young seemed to freeze before throwing to the plate, too late to beat Herrera. The run made the score 4-0 and effectively put the game out of reach.

Three Keys

Peralta's Poor Performance

First, the good news: Freddy Peralta went six innings. Now the bad: he was awful in two of them, hit about as hard as any Met starter has been this season. Peralta cruised through the first two innings, with the only negative hitting Ivan Herrera with a pitch. His pitch count was low and it looked like he was going to have a good night. But he clearly lost it in the third: a walk, a double, a single to score two runs, a second Herrera HBP, a run scoring double. The fourth run of the inning wasn't his fault (see the turning point above) , but the Mets still were in a 4-0 hole. In the fifth, after a foul out, Herrera avenged he HBPs with a single and Alex Burleson homered to make it 6-0. .

Semien’s Hard-Luck Night

Over the last 12 games, Marcus Semien had been the Mets' most reliable hitter: five home runs, a .992 OPS. But some loose bat handling and a look-what-I found catch by Cardinals center fielder Nathan Church kept Semien from being a hero again.

In the second inning of what was then a scoreless game, Semien came to bat with A.J. Ewing on third and one out. Semien worked the count to 3-2 and, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, appeared to have checked his swing and worked out a walk. But as he tried to check his swing, he lost control of his bat, which flew over his shoulder behind him. To first base umpire Stu Scheuerwater, that made it look like a swing, and he punched out Semien.

In the bottom of the fourth, with the Mets only trailing 4-0, Semien came to bat with two on and two out. He hit a long fly ball that looked as if it would go over Church's head. As he headed toward the center field fence, and with his back turned to the plate, the ball somehow landed in Church's glove, belt-high. Sort of a basket catch. -- but certainly not the way Willie Mays made them.

Ewing's Hot Streak Continues

Perhaps the Mets' only bright spot was A.J. Ewing, With a second-inning double, Ewing extended his hitting streak to six games. He also had a single later in the game. Over that stretch, Ewing is hitting .410 (9-22). He did have a couple of shaky moments in the field -- he seemed to have trouble judging fly balls -- but we'll grasp at the straw of his performance at the plate to say something positive.

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