Cardinals 4 Mets 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 13-12
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Miles Mikolas (2-3)
LP - Jose Butto (0-1)
SV - Ryan Helsley (8)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Alec Burleson's three run HR in the 2nd was all the Cardinals needed off Jose Butto as they held the Mets at arm's length after that, crusing to a 4-2 victory.
Need to Know
Tonight was J.D. Martinez's Mets debut after a stint in Syracuse. Martinez grounded a single down the right field line in his first at-bat, and would drive in the Mets' second run with a double to right in the 6th. He would finish 2-for-4 with the one RBI.
Tomas Nido's homer in the 5th accounted for the other Mets run. He would go 2-for-3 on the night.
Brandon Nimmo's double in the first inning was his first hit off Miles Mikolas in 14 tries.
Jose Butto gave up four runs in 94 pitches through 5 and 2/3's, giving up two home runs and three walks while striking out four hitters.
Miles Mikolas gave up two in 5 and 2/3's, but it was the Cardinals bullpen that shut the Mets down, giving up one hit in the final 3 and 1/3 to take it home.
Turning Point
Butto's hiccups usually come when he loses the strike zone. He hit Nolan Arenado and walked Paul Goldschmidt to lead off the 2nd, and it wasn't a matter of Butto being careful with those two. He was just wild. So he had to come in to Alec Burleson, and Burelson made him pay.
Three Keys
An Early Hole
It was a frustrating night overall for the Mets, as an early hole dug by Butto had the Mets climbing uphill all game. Burleson's dinger was key, but Willson Contreras' long homer in the 3rd sunk the Mets even further.
And while the Mets crept close enough to make it interesting, they just couldn't break through. They got 7 hits off Mikolas. But four of them were from Martinez and Nido, and they couldn't get sustained pressure up and down the lineup, and didn't really seem to make Mikolas work too hard, as he only threw 85 pitches in his 5 and 2/3's innings.
J.D. Stands for Joyous Debut
We've been waiting to see J.D. Martinez in the lineup all season, and although he didn't have the ripple effect along the entire lineup, it was great to see that his time in Syracuse wasn't wasted. He has his health, he has his timing, and he did nothing tonight to dispel the notion that he could roll out of bed and get two knocks.
The Late Inning Magic Deserts The Mets
The Mets have made it a habit of outscoring their opponents in the late innings by a large margin this season. When Nido's home run and J.D.'s double crept the Mets back to 4-2, you got the feeling that it would happen again. But the Mets couldn't muster anything against the Cardinals' bullpen.
Jojo Romero got a huge strikeout to end the inning in relief of Mikolas. With Martinez on second, Romero got McNeil to look at a couple of pitches right on (or just off) the outside corner. From there, the Mets went down meekly to Romero in the 7th, Andrew Kittredge in the 8th (his out pitch to Francisco Lindor was all sorts of nasty), and Ryan Helsley in the 9th. Against Helsley, the Mets had no chance.