MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets

Mets split doubleheader against Cardinals

What Happened, In a Sentence

Bartolo Colon calmed the Mets down after a sloppy opener, splitting a doubleheader with the Cardinals.

Game 1: Mets Miss Opportunities

After yesterday’s rain and lightning, the Mets and Cardinals played a true doubleheader. Baseball teams don’t play a lot of 4:05 local starts outside of Spring Training, and, indeed, Tuesday’s first game looked a lot like a Spring Training game. Both teams sat a few regulars (Neil Walker and Travis d’Arnaud for the Mets, Matt Holiday and Randal Grichuk for the Cardinals). Both teams misplayed some balls. Neither team looked like they had the full energy and focus needed for all nine innings of 90 degree heat and late July humidity.

Both teams wanted to make the other team’s ace work and get to the bullpen early. Noah Syndergaard played in to this game plan in the first. He kept hitting 100 mph with his fastball and struck out the side, but St. Louis got 23 pitches in the first. In the bottom of the second, Met nemesis Yadier Molina singled, and then Jeremy Hazelbaker literally tore the cover off the ball for an infield hit (apparently you can hit a ball hard enough to damage it even when the ball doesn’t go 90 feet). Tommy Pham singled off Syndergaard’s leg. He stayed in but tripped on the next play, trying to barehand Carlos Martinez’s swinging bunt and then throw home. Syndergaard struck out Greg Garcia and got a ground ball to end the threat. With the pitch count soaring, Jedd Gyorko sat on a fastball and pulled it for a home run to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the third.

The Mets had their chances, but once again they needed the home run to score. Yoenis Cespedes doubled in the third with Jose Reyes at first and two outs, but thid base coach Tim Teufel held Reyes at third. James Loney walked to load the bases, but Kelly Johnson waved at an off speed pitch to end the threat. Rene Rivera hit a two run homer in the fourth to make it a 3-2 game. Syndergaard and Granderson then drew walks, but a Cespedes groundout put an end to the inning. Meanwhile, overaggressive St. Louis baserunning kept the Mets close. Tommy Pham and Garcia tried a double steal in the fourth, but Rivera threw Pham out at third. Matt Adams tried to score from first on a double in the fifth, but Granderson threw to Kelly Johnson, who made a perfect relay to get the slow runner.

After five innings, the offenses and starters were cooked. Each starter had over 100 pitches. The Mets had left nine on base but couldn’t make Martinez and his shaky infield pay. Syndergaard had eight strikeouts and stayed in for his first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Terry Collins got three innings of one hit ball from his low leverage relievers. The game remained close, but out of reach. Granderson led off the ninth with a single. Cespedes flew out to the edge of the grass in center, and Granderson tried to tag up and bring the tying run to second. After a game of poor fielding, Pham threw him out with a perfect throw. Loney made the final out in the loss.

Game 2: Bartolo Rolls

After 30 minutes, the Mets stepped back out to Citi Field with new uniforms, a new lineup, and a new approach to face St. Louis’ lefty. Juan Lagares and Alejandro De Aza replaced Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson in center. Neil Walker and Travis d’Arnaud were in. Wilmer Flores got the start at third base and hit cleanup. Loney, Cabrera and Cespedes (despite his nagging injury) were the only Mets to start both games.

Gyorko gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the second with another home run. Colon got the ball where he wanted – away to a right-hander – but Gyorko has been on fire since the All-Star break. Colon kept pounding fastballs to the outside part of the plate against the Cardinals. St. Louis hitters couldn’t make the adjustment, as the veteran righty only needed 87 pitches to throw seven innings of one-run ball, striking out eight while only allowing three hits.

With the wind blowing in, the Mets had to manufacture runs. Surprise starter De Aza led off the third with a double. After two outs, Cabrera ended his horrible 0-32 streak with runners in scoring position, doubling to left to tie the game. Flores led off the fourth with a double. Walker lined to right and Grichuk misplayed the ball to put runners at the corners. Loney rolled over for a double play, but it was enough to score Flores and give the Mets a lead. De Aza led off the fifth by getting hit by a pitch, and the Mets went in to manufacture mode again. Cabrera delivered another clutch RBI – this time on a sacrifice fly – to give the Mets a 3-1 lead that they wouldn’t give back.

The Mets got another chance in the sixth but couldn’t convert against Matt Bowman. St. Louis took the 25 year old from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft and converted him to a reliever. Flores led off the inning with his third hit of the game. Walker walked, but then Loney whiffed and d’Arnaud lined out to the warning track in right. De Aza got six pitches out of the zone and only swung at two, drawing a walk. Collins left Colon in instead of using a pinch hitter, but he promptly chased three pitches out of the zone to end the rally. Three runs was enough, as Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia closed the door.

Game Notes

  • Juan Lagares stole second and third in the seventh inning of game twp. He is now the Mets’ season leader with four steals, passing David Wright.
  • Conforto showed his inexperience in center field when he didn’t call Cespedes off on a ball in the gap in the sixth. Cespedes bobbled the catch but recorded the out. Lagares pinch hit for Syndergaard in the bottom of the inning and stayed in to finish the game in center field.
  • Sean Gilmartin was placed on the Triple-A disabled list with a sore shoulder on Monday. It sounds like Colon will start on short rest against the Rockies on Saturday.
  • Jose Reyes suffered a minor intercostal strain in his last swing of game 1. Collins said Reyes went to the hospital for tests and will miss the next several games.

What’s Next

Adam Wainwright threatens to give fans bad flashbacks as the Mets and Cardinals finish their series tonight.

Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

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