Mets 7 Cardinals 5 (Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO)
Mets record: 18-18
Mets streak: Won 2
WP - Jose Butto (1-2)
LP - Miles Mikolas (2-5)
SV - Adam Ottavino (1)
Seat on the Korner: Pete Alonso
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.
Pete Alonso snapped an 0-17 skid with a go-ahead 2-run double in the Mets 6-run 5th inning. He then followed that up with a solo home run in the 9th, his first home run since April 27th, giving the Mets an important insurance run. For the game, Alonso went 2-5, with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.
NEED TO KNOW
For the second straight game, Brandon Nimmo hit a clutch home run. This time it was a 3-run shot that tied the game at 3 after the Mets had been shut out for the first 4 innings.
While Alonso and Nimmo had the big bats tonight, it was Jeff McNeil who really got things going. His leadoff infield single in the 5th set the stage for what would end up being a 6-run frame. He even added another single when he came up for a second at-bat in the inning. On the night McNeil had 3 singles in 4 trips to the plate.
Reliever Reed Garrett continued his strong start to the season, with a relatively clean 8th inning. After giving up a lead-off single to Alec Burleson, Garrett struck out Nolan Gorman, induced a fielder's choice groundout by Brandon Crawford, and caught Dylan Carlson looking to end the inning, keeping the score at 6-4.
With closer Edwin Diaz unavailable, the Mets turned to Adam Ottavino in the 9th inning with a 3-run lead. It wasn't easy for the veteran righty, as he gave up a one-out solo home run followed by a single and a 4-pitch walk which brought the potential winning run to the plate. After a visit by pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Ottavino settled down and struck out the next two batters, Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson, to end the game.
Much like Alonso, Cardinals slugging first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt has been mired in a slump of his own. He went 0-5 tonight with three strikeouts, dropping his batting average on the season to .195.
J.D. Martinez put an exclamation point on the Mets breakout 5th inning with a single to drive in Pete Alonso and put the Mets up 6-3.
Turning Point
Following Brandon Nimmo's game-tying 3-run home run, the Mets continued the rally with a Starling Marte double and a Francisco Lindo single. Pete Alonso then put the Mets ahead to stay with 2-RBI double to right-center field.
Three Keys
Bad Break
In the top of the second, with the Mets already down 3-0, J.D. Martinez swung at a Miles Mikolas 2-1 slider, and while he didn't hit the ball, he did connect with the left forearm of Cardinals catcher, Wilson Contreras, on the backswing. Martinez was awarded first base on catcher's interference. More importantly, however, Contreras was immediately removed from the game, and it was soon determined that he had broken his forearm.
Butto Rebounds
The evening got off to a rough start for Mets pitcher, Jose Butto. On his fourth pitch of the game, he gave up a leadoff home run to Cardinals left fielder Brandon Donovan. This was followed by a walk, a double, a sacrifice fly, and eventually an RBI 2-out single, and at the end of one inning, the Cards were already up 3-0. Butto's struggles continued in the second inning when he allowed the first two batters to reach base. He settled in from there, however, as the Cardinals were only able to muster one more single and a walk against Butto through the 5th inning. On the night, the young righty gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs, and 3 strike outs over 5 innings, and earned his first win of the season.
Locked-In Lopez
With the Mets clinging to a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the 7th inning, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza tabbed reliever Sean Reid-Foley to get them through the inning. Reid-Foley was able to get a leadoff ground out, however, after a single and a walk, the Cardinals had the tying runs on base with the middle of the lineup looming. Mendoza made a quick decision to pivot to Jorge Lopez, to make his team-leading 18th appearance on the season. Lopez gave up a bloop single to Wilson Conteras' replacement, Ivan Herrera, to load the bases. He then induced a Nolan Arrenado pop-out to second base for the second out, followed by an inning-ending, rally-ending, strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt.