Martinez Impresses Despite Mets’ Loss to Cardinals

The New York Mets saw the arrival of their new designated hitter in J.D. Martinez on Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. Martinez had a good debut with the club, but the Mets dropped a 4-2 contest to the Cardinals to open the series, marking the fourth loss in their last five games. Building off of that point, New York’s offensive struggles continued as it has now scored two runs or less in each of their last four losses. José Butto took the mound for the Mets, and while he battled, he failed to make it through the sixth inning. 

Home Runs Hurt Butto

Coming off a tough but gutsy start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Butto took on a Cardinals offense that was out of sorts coming into this series. Unfortunately for him, things did not come easy for the second straight outing. In the top of the second inning, he hit Nolan Arenado with a pitch and walked Paul Goldschmidt, setting up a three-run blast by Alec Burleson that put the Mets in an early 3-0 hole. On the first pitch Willson Contreras saw to lead off the top of the third inning, he launched a 445-foot home run deep into left field that grew St. Louis’ lead to 4-0.

The positives from Butto’s start include that he once again showed resilience as he would retire eleven Cardinals in a row before a single by Goldschmidt and a walk to Burleson ended his night with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Butto’s finished the night after throwing 5 2/3 innings and giving up four hits, four runs and three walks to go with four strikeouts. His ERA is now 2.86.

Martinez Shines But Offense Leaves Too Many In Scoring Position

The Mets had been looking for not just any run-of-the-mill designated hitter but quality protection for Pete Alonso. Martinez was brought in to provide just that, and he made his long-awaited debut on Friday night. Martinez went 2-for-4 with the highlight being an RBI double that drove in Francisco Lindor to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Martinez also singled in his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning. Tomás Nido initially got the Mets on the board with an opposite-field home run in the fifth. However, the rest of the offense had trouble driving runners in scoring position.

The club went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and saw the leadoff man reach base in each of the first three frames. Two of those cases, which were Brandon Nimmo in the first inning and Nido in the third inning, recorded doubles with the other being Martinez’s aforementioned single, though none of the three ultimately scored. The Mets also struck out nine times, and while it’ll be interesting to see how they produce with Martinez now in the fold, this offense must find consistency.

Player Of The Game: J.D. Martinez

Even in a loss, Martinez’s impact and what he could bring to the table for the offense going forward was on full display. He led off the bottom of the second inning with a single as well as picking up Alonso, who struck out with Lindor on second after he doubled, with an RBI double of his own to drive in the run. From here on out, the Mets have their everyday designated hitter locked in and have a major presence in the lineup behind Alonso. 

On Deck

The Mets will send Adrian Houser to the mound on Saturday afternoon against Sonny Gray of the Cardinals. Houser will look to rebound after a rough outing against the Dodgers last Sunday. The game will be televised nationally on FOX at 4:05 p.m. EDT, and the Mets will break out their City Connect jerseys for the first time.