Cardinals Fall to Mets in Game Two

The Cardinals continued Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Mets with Johan Oviedo starting across from Miguel Castro in what was a bullpen game for New York. It was a rough game across the board for the Redbirds. The Mets capitalized on some mistakes from Cards’ pitchers and the St. Louis defense came just short of making a few impressive plays that may have limited the damage. Pile on top of that some bad BABIP luck and ten Cardinals left on base through seven innings, and it makes for a long game for the losing side.

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1st Inning

Jeff McNeil led off for the Mets and grounded out to Nolan Arenado on an 0-1 changeup to start the game. Pete Alonso followed and struck out, tipping a fastball into the glove of Ali Sanchez for the second out of the first. Michael Conforto flew a 1-0 changeup to Tommy Edman in right for an efficient, eight-pitch frame for Oviedo.

Edman led off as usual for St. Louis and golfed a low 2-1 changeup the other way for a single. Matt Carpenter followed and grounded out softly to Jonathan Villar at second, advancing Edman to bring up Paul Goldschmidt with a runner on second and one away. Goldschmidt struck out swinging at a slider that dove low and away off the plate for the second out. Castro, with first base vacant, pitched around Arenado and walked him on five pitches. Paul DeJong lined a 1-0 changeup hard to deep left but straight at Dominic Smith for the final out.

2nd Inning

Smith kicked off the second for New York, working a full count before lining a hanging slider to center field for a leadoff single. Kevin Pillar then pulled another 3-2 slider that was low and away down the third baseline for a double, placing runners on second and third with no outs. Villar flew out to shallow left, but not deep enough to score Smith from third as the runners stayed put. Jose Peraza hit another fly ball, this time to center field for the second out, and Harrison Bader threw home to again keep Smith at third. The 1-1 pitch to Tomas Nido came in low and Sanchez tried to pick it on a backhand play, but it got away from him, scoring Smith for a 1-0 Mets lead. Oviedo then hung a slider in the middle of the zone and Nido knocked it into the seats in left-center for a two-run shot, stretching the Mets’ lead to 3-0.

Patrick Mazeika, pinch-hitting for Castro, fell behind 1-2 and grounded to Goldschmidt for an unassisted putout to send the game to the bottom of the second.

Jordan Yamamoto pitched the second for the Mets and got Tyler O’Neill looking at a fastball on the corner for the first out. Bader grounded a 1-1 sinker to first for out number two. Sanchez fell behind 0-2 in the count before hitting a line drive down the left field line for a double in his first Cardinals at-bat. Oviedo singled back up the middle for his first MLB hit and Sanchez was waved home, where he was thrown out to end the Cardinals’ threat.

3rd Inning

McNeil grounded a 1-0 fastball to second for the first out of the third inning. The 0-1 pitch to Alonso came inside and hit his hand on a check swing, putting him at first with a hit-by-pitch. Conforto then lined out to center and Smith grounded a first-pitch curveball to Goldschmidt to retire the side.

Yamamoto returned to pitch the third for New York. Edman got ahead 2-0 in the count and lifted a sinker to right field that was caught for out number one. Carpenter followed and dropped a beauty of a bunt against the shift on a 3-1 fastball for a one-out hit. Goldschmidt hit a line drive just over Villar’s head for a base hit, placing runners on first and second with one away for Arenado, who lined out second for the second out. DeJong hit a fly ball to left on an 0-1 sinker, which was caught by Smith for the last out of the inning.

4th Inning

Pillar opened the fourth with a flyout to shallow center on a 1-2 slider. Villar got a 1-0 changeup up in the zone and put it in the seats past left field, extending the lead to 4-0 for New York.

Peraza followed the home run with a popout to first and Nido singled on a 0-1 fastball. Yamamoto hit for himself and swung over a curveball to send the game to the bottom of the inning.

O’Neill began the bottom of the frame for the Redbirds and took an 0-2 slider to the thigh, reaching on a hit-by-pitch before stealing second on the 1-1 pitch to Bader. Bader then grounded out to second, moving O’Neill to third with one away. Sanchez ripped a liner to deep left for a flyout. O’Neill started running home on the play thinking the line drive was going to drop, and was unable to score on what should have been a sac fly. Dylan Carlson pinch-hit for Oviedo, prompting a pitching change by the Mets who called on Aaron Loup to get the final out of the fourth. Carlson came through with a single to right to score O’Neill, closing the deficit to 4-1 and extending the inning to the top of the order.

Edman fouled a pitch off before hitting a hard grounder just past Peraza at third for another hit. The Cards’ threat failed to become a reality, however, as Carpenter flew out to right on a 3-2 sinker.

5th Inning

Tyler Webb relieved Oviedo in the sixth to face the top of the Mets’ order and gave up a leadoff hit to McNeil on a 1-2 fastball. Alonso followed and skied a changeup to Bader for the first out. Conforto walked on five pitches, bringing up Smith who flew out to center on an 0-1 changeup. The Cardinals then elected to bring in Seth Elledge to finish the inning and he gave up an RBI single to Pillar that scored McNeil to bring the score to 5-1 in the Mets’ favor and moved Conforto to third. Villar hit a chopper to Arenado and beat the bare-handed throw for an RBI infield single to stretch the lead yet again to 6-1.

Peraza, with runners on first and second and two outs, lifted a 1-1 slider to Edman to get out of the inning.

Trevor May replaced Aaron Loup to pitch the bottom of the fifth and got Goldschmidt to fly out to the warning track in dead center. Arenado slapped a ball through the hole in the right side of the shift for a hit, and DeJong grounded out softly back to the pitcher for the second out of the inning. O’Neill grounded out to Villar, who made a difficult throw to first to get the final out.

6th Inning

Elledge stayed in to pitch the top of the sixth and retired Nido with a first-pitch groundout. Albert Almora, Jr. pinch-hit for the pitcher spot and grounded out to third on a 2-2 sinker. McNeil jumped on a first-pitch sinker and lined out sharply to right for a clean inning by Elledge.

The Mets called on Robert Gsellman to pitch the sixth. He gave up a double to Bader on a 1-1 sinker to start the bottom of the frame. Sanchez chopped a ball right in front of the plate where Nido fielded it and threw to first for the out as Bader advanced to third. Justin Williams, hitting for the pitcher, then beat out an infield single to score Bader and tighten the Mets’ lead to 6-2.

Edman worked a full count and flew out to deep center field for the second out. Carpenter popped out to second to strand Williams at first.

7th Inning

Bernardo Flores, Jr. pitched the top of the seventh for the Cards and struggled to find the strike zone. Alonso drew a walk on five pitches to bring up Conforto, who walked on four pitches. Smith singled on a 1-1 curve to load the bases with no outs. Kodi Whitley was then brought in to relieve Flores, Jr. and limit the damage. Pillar grounded a slider to DeJong, who tagged out Conforto as Alonso scored to make it 7-2 Mets.

Villar struck out swinging under a high fastball for the second out. Peraza lined out to right to send the game to the bottom of the inning.

Jeurys Familia was brought in to close the game for the Mets. Goldschmidt flew out to center for the first out. Arenado followed with a flyout to left on a 2-2 sinker. DeJong bounced a grounder through the wide gap in the shift for a single up the middle. O’Neill then lined out to second on a 1-2 slider to end the game.

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With the loss, the Cards drop to 18-13 on the season, which at this very early point is still good for first place in the NL central as the Brewers are on a four-game slide with today’s loss to the Phillies. The Redbirds look to take three of four in the series against the Mets on Thursday, as John Gant matches up against New York’s Taijuan Walker at 12:15 PM CT.

Quick Notes

Miles Mikolas made his first rehab start in Memphis Wednesday evening. He threw 57 pitches over two and a third innings, giving up two earned on five hits, including one home run, and striking out five in the brief outing.

Final Pitching Lines

Cardinals

Oviedo (L, 0-1): 4 IP / 5 H / 4 R / 4 ER / 0 BB / 2 K / 2 HR

Webb: 0.2 IP / 1 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 1 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Elledge: 1.1 IP / 2 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Flores, Jr.: 0 IP / 1 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 2 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Whitley: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Mets

Castro: 1 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Yamamoto (W, 1-0): 2.2 IP / 4 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Loup: 0.1 IP / 2 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

May: 1 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Gsellman: 1 IP / 2 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Familia: 1 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR