Mets Walk Out of St. Louis With a 4-1 Victory

Sometimes, you have to let the other team do the work for you.

That’s exactly the approach the Mets took on Thursday afternoon, as they played the final game of a four-game set in St. Louis. The offense produced a common theme and struggled with runners in scoring position once again, stranding 12 before the seventh inning had even started. Despite this consistent struggle, they recognized the weakness of the Cardinals: control.

New York’s hitters took and took, and it finally came through in the fifth, as the Cardinals walked four straight batters, which was good for two gifted runs. The control issues continued late into the game for the Cards, who walked in another run in the eighth. St. Louis finished the game having walked 11 batters, more than the number of hits they allowed in the same nine-inning period.

On the other side of things, Taijuan Walker was dominant, allowing one unearned run and finishing off his outing by retiring 18 straight hitters.

The game began with a brief weather delay that pushed the game back a few minutes. The rain cleared, and Harrison Bader immediately got himself on the highlight reel, pleasing the home crowd with a web gem in right-center field, robbing Jeff McNeil of an extra-base hit in the gap. Francisco Lindor worked a walk to follow that, but the momentum had been set, and the rest of the Mets went down easily to begin the game.

Walker was quick to swipe the momentum back to the Mets’ side, however, as he dismantled the top of the Cardinals order, striking out the side on 17 pitches.

Kevin Pillar, who was hitting .471 over his previous seven games coming into Thursday, continued his reign of terror over the St. Louis metro-area with another base hit in the second. He then proceeded to swipe second base, and his -illar brother, Jonathan, followed him with a one-out walk. However, Paul DeJong rained on the parade, making a nice play to rob James McCann of a base hit. The threat eventually came to an end with no change in the score column.

The Cardinals offense came alive in the home half of the second, as Nolan Arenado singled and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Villar. He was later driven home by Bader via the sacrifice fly, and St. Louis entered the third with a 1-0 lead.

The Mets quickly loaded the bases in the top of the third with one gone, looking to capitalize and get themselves on the board. Unfortunately, Dom Smith continued to struggle, embarrassingly striking out on three pitches, one of which wasn’t even close to the zone. Pillar was then robbed in foul territory by Justin Williams, who made a brilliant play along the left field line, leaping at the wall.

The Mets gave themselves another opportunity in the fourth, as Walker helped himself out with a base hit. With runners on the corners and two outs, Lindor’s offensive woes continued, as he struck out swinging on a full count pitch.

The Mets took the “bat-on-the-shoulder” approach in the top of the fifth, as a throwing error and four straight walks brought home two runs, gifting the Mets the lead. Cardinals starter John Gant came out midway through the inning. He went 4.1 frames and walked six batters in his appearance.

Walker, on the other hand, was cruising, having retired 12 in a row after the end of the fifth inning on six strikeouts and just 67 pitches.

After a quick Mets’ half of the sixth, the tarp came out. It had been a rainy day in St. Louis already, and it finally caught up to the game. Sixteen minutes later, however, it was gone, and Luis Rojas had a decision to make regarding who would man the bump for the New York in the sixth.

He opted to stick with Walker, which was the correct decision. Walker didn’t skip a beat, retiring his 13th, 14th, and 15th batters in a row. He continued into the seventh, and his pure dominance went with him. He struck out his eighth batter to start the frame, and then got Arenado and DeJong to pop out to retire the side.

Tyler Webb came in for the Cardinals in the top of the eighth, and he began his outing with two walks. Conforto then singled to load the bases, bringing Pete Alonso to the plate. Webb had done enough damage and was replaced by Jake Woodford, who went to the same high school as Alonso. The Polar Bear wasn’t kind to his former teammate, drawing another walk to bring in the Mets’ third run of the game. Smith followed and cashed in with a single to right field to bring in another run.

New York brought in Trevor May for the eighth, ending Walker’s night. May, who had already dominated in the month of his namesake thus far, continued that trend with a 1-2-3 frame.

Lindor, who was previously 0-for-26 before his ninth inning at-bat, improved to 1-for-27, breaking his hitless streak with a single to right field. He was stranded on base, but seemed obviously relieved to have tallied a base hit.

Edwin Diaz came in looking to close out the victory. As he does best, he made it interesting, allowing two straight one-out hits to bring the tying run to the plate in Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt looked to have popped out in foul territory, but the ball was dropped by Alonso, giving the power hitter another chance to tie the game. He came close, but the ball stayed in the yard. Diaz then got Arenado to ground out to shortstop, ending the game.

New York pitchers allowed just three hits in the game and walked zero batters compared to St. Louis’ 11 free passes allowed.

The Mets finished their road trip 4-3 and will head back home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game set starting on Friday night. David Peterson will get the start in game one, facing off against Zac Gallen of the D-Backs.