Mets Muster Just One Run, Lose Game 1 to St. Louis

The thing about Met killers is they don’t stop being Met killers.

Paul DeJong, who on most days is an average major league hitter, continued his tormenting of the Mets. He placed a series of nails in the Mets’ coffin during the fifth inning (out of seven) with a two-run home run to put the Cardinals up 4-1 during Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader.

The Cardinals maintained that lead for the final two innings to give the Mets their second loss in as many tries in the four-game series.

Marcus Stroman started the game for the Mets and had pitched a reasonable game through four innings with two runs allowed. When he arrived out of the dugout for the fifth, he notched a pair of strikeouts that marked five-consecutive K’s dating back to the previous the frame.

Nolan Arenado then hit a ground ball to Francisco Lindor for what could’ve been a third out. Instead, bad weeks continue to be bad weeks–even on the field–and Lindor threw the ball wide of first base.

That’s when DeJong, right on cue, did his damage.

If there was any narrative to be written about the Mets offense coming out on all cylinders following the shuffling of their batting coaches, someone forgot the paper.

The Mets mustered one run through Game 1’s seven innings.

Their best chance to score came when the bases were loaded with no outs during a bizarre fourth inning, which saw a crew chief review inspecting if sending an interpreter for Cardinals pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim counted as a mound visit (it should’ve, but it wasn’t), another crew chief review if Nolan Arenado touched third base on a force out (he did) and a slight delay when Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner caught a foul ball to the undercarriage (no review necessary).

James McCann came up once the bases were loaded and grounded out to Arenado, who dropped the ball when charging to touch third base for the force out but not before touching the bag. Two strike outs later, the Mets went 0-for-3 in the inning with runners in scoring position.

They finished the game with two hits. It’s the seventh time in the last 16 games they’ve scored two runs or less.

Stroman, for his efforts, drops to 3-3 on the year, and two earned runs (of the four total given up) brings his ERA to an earnest 2.12.

Jacob Barnes, who pitched the sixth inning, delivered another nice inning with two strikeouts in the Cardinals’ final time at the plate.

The Mets will have another chance to get their offense going tonight, with Game 2 of the doubleheader starting 30 minutes after the first.

As of the end of Game 1, the Mets hadn’t fully committed to a starter for Game 2, but the Mets at the start of the day indicated it would be some combination of Miguel Castro to start and then the remainder of the bullpen.

The Cardinals will send 23-year-old rookie right hander Johan Oviedo, who’s given up two runs in 9.2 innings so far this season, to the mound. Brandon Nimmo could make his return to the lineup for the Mets, as will Dom Smith, who had Game 1 off.