“Yeah, I like it”

That from Jeff McNeil as he pulled into second base with his second double of the day referring to swinging at the first pitch of his at-bats. (Of course, that two-bagger was struck on a first-pitch offering).

McNeil, who was 2-for-3, led the Mets to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. He, along with others both on and off the field, was mic’d up by ESPN during the telecast. That led to an NSFW moment from the mouth of Pete Alonso who earned his first RBI this spring. (box score)

But getting back to McNeil, he is now 10-18 this spring with three doubles and a home run. He is certainly making a solid case to lead-off for the Amazins’ this year, but no matter where he hits in the line-up, pitchers will certainly be careful on their first delivery to the Mets star.

Yeah, we like it.

Pitching

Marcus Stroman pitched three innings for the Mets Wednesday and pitched well. He worked around a hit-by-pitch and a walk in the first inning helped by his defense. Rene Rivera threw out Tommy Edman attempting to steal second and the infield turned a nice double play to get through the first.

The second inning was Stroman’s most impressive as he struck out the side. In the third, Cardinal left fielder Austin Dean led off with a double but was promptly picked off. Stroman retired the next two batters to end his outing. His final line was: 3 IP, H, 0 R, 4 Ks, 45 pitches. Stroman has a 2.70 ERA this spring.

Southpaw Daniel Zamora pitched the fourth for New York and like Stroman’s first, worked around a walk and a hit batsman but got through the inning unscathed. He’s pitched very effectively so far. In fact, he has faced 12 right-handed hitters this spring and has not allowed a hit while striking out five.

Erasmo Ramirez pitched two shut-out innings for the Mets. He allowed only one hit in his stint. Ramirez has also pitched well this spring and after Wednesday’s outing carries a 1.50 ERA.

Lefty Chasen Shreve came in to pitch the seventh. He was a bit wild as he allowed a walk, a wild pitch and a few other offerings in the dirt. The good news is he didn’t give up a run and the Mets still led 4-0 at this point in the game.

That lead shrunk to 4-1 as the Mets’ next pitcher, Stephen Nogosek, gave up a solo homer to Nolan Gorman to cut the Mets lead. Nogosek’s has a bloated 7.36 ERA this spring. Gorman’s home run was his first of the spring and only the third hit of the game for the Cardinals.

Francisco Rios finished the game allowing two singles but kept the Cards off the board.

Offense

The Mets managed 8 hits on Wednesday.

The Mets wasted little time scoring as they plated two in the bottom of the first. The red-hot Jeff McNeil (he of the .533/.563/.800 line entering this game) led off with a double to center, his second double of the spring. Brandon Nimmo followed with an infield single sending McNeil to third.

Pete Alonso singled to right to plate McNeil and give the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was the Rookie of the Year’s first RBI of the spring. Nimmo scored on a double-play grounder by Michael Conforto to make the score 2-0.

The third run of the game came in the fourth inning. Wilson Ramirez led off with a single to left. He was lifted for a pinch-runner, Edgardo Fermin. Fermin scored on a two-out triple to right by Eduardo Nunez. It was Nunez’s second RBI of the spring and made the score 3-0.

New York scored one more run in the sixth. Conforto led off with a double to right. It was Michael’s first double this spring. A walk and a HBP loaded the bases with no one out. Nunez earned his second RBI of the game with a walk to make the score 4-0. The Mets had a golden opportunity to break this game way open as the bases were still loaded but two strikeouts and a pop-out prevented any more scoring in the frame.

On Deck

The Mets will play the second half of what amounts to a home and home with St.Louis as they travel to Jupiter to play the Cards again this time at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The two teams will meet each other two more times after Thursday in Grapefruit League play. They play for real in St.Louis in a three-game set on May 8-10 at Busch Stadium.

Rick Porcello will make his third start for New York. He has a 3.00 ERA with three strikeouts in three innings pitched. Kwang-Hyun Kim will take the mound for St. Louis. The South Korean import has been impressive this spring with five strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA.

The game begins at 1:05 PM and there will be no television or radio coverage of the contest.