The Mets (14-10) missed out on a chance to move into first place in the Grapefruit League on Friday, falling 5-4 to the Cardinals (10-8) on the road.
Matt Harvey got the start for the Mets on his 26th birthday and pitched well. Harvey pitched 4.1 innings, striking out 5 and walking none while allowing 1 run on 3 hits.
Curtis Granderson started the game with an infield hit for the Mets, but his team could not bring him home. Harvey got off to a bit of a slow start in the bottom of the first, allowing a leadoff double to Peter Bourjos, who later scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Holliday. Harvey pitched a 1-2-3 second inning and would have had another in the third had Bourjos not reached first after a wild pitch on strike three— before being caught stealing by Travis d’Arnaud. (Wait, does that count as a 1-2-3 inning?)
Daniel Muno singled off of Cards pitcher John Lackey in the top of the third but was doubled up when Granderson lined out on an ill-fated hit-and-run. The Mets got a two-out double from Eric Campbell in the fifth, but Harvey, left in to bat, grounded out to strand Soup.
Harvey would only get one more out on the mound after his turn at the plate. After Mark Reynolds grounded out, Scott Moore hit a double to chase the Mets’ number 3 starter ace. Carlos Torres took the ball and escaped the jam.
Granderson singled again in the top of the sixth, but was caught stealing by Yadier Molina (Note: never, ever run on Yadier Molina). A two-out solo shot from Rafael Ortega in the bottom of the frame stretched the Cardinals’ lead to 2-0.
Lackey finally stumbled in his seventh inning of work. Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the inning with a single. By the way, I have finally learned how to spell Nieuwenhuis without having to double-check. (Well, I double-checked this time because spelling it wrong here would have been quite embarrassing, but yeah.) Another Mets’ Birthday Boy, the 36 year-old Michael Cuddyer, doubled to give the Mets 2 runners in scoring position with no outs. Kirk scored on a groundout by Wilmer Flores, but the Mets could not take further advantage, and Lackey escaped to finish his day relatively unscathed.
After Torres got the first two guys out in the bottom of the seventh, Sean Gilmartin came in and caught Moore looking to end the frame and continue his solid spring.
Anthony Recker and Daniel Muno both singled off of reliever Randy Choate to start the eighth, and Cesar Puello laid down a sacrifice bunt to put them on second and third, but Matt Belisle came in and struck out Alex Castellanos and, after intentionally walking Kirk to load the bases, fanned Matt den Dekker (pinch-hitting for Cuddyer) to keep the Cards up 2-1.
Jenrry Mejia retired the first two St Louis hitters in the bottom of the eighth, but then coughed up a pair of singles before surrendering Ortega’s second homer of the game, putting the hosts up 5-1. Mejia then walked the next hitter, and Chase Bradford (not Chad. Anybody remember Chad Bradford? He was awesome) came in to finish the inning.
The Mets made things interesting in the top of the ninth against Jordan Walden. Flores, Johnny Monell (another birthday boy! He’s 29) and Campbell each singled to load the bases with no outs, and Anthony Recker walked to force home a run. Muno grounded one towards the hole on the right side, where a diving stop by St Louis second baseman Ty Kelly robbed him of a hit, although Monell did score while the tying runs moved to second and third. The next hitter, Puello, grounded one to third base. Campbell scored, and Moore made a wild throw which Reynolds was forced to lay out to catch. The umpire ruled that Reynolds had kept a foot on the bag (probably a bad call, which Terry Collins argued, but Reynolds had reached back with his foot to touch the bag afterwards, making toe point moot). With two outs and the tying run 90 feet away, Castellanos hit one towards the gap in right-center, but Blake Drake made a nice play on the run to end the ballgame.
Harvey wasn’t amazing, but he was quite good. The only thing that matters is that he’s ready for Opening Da– Wait, what’s this about Bartolo Colon?
Brandon Nimmo also celebrated a birthday today (22), so there will be a lot of cake in the clubhouse. WAIT, WHAT’S THIS ABOUT BARTOLO COLON?
It would have been nice to see the Mets complete the comeback, but you can’t win them all. So let’s save some wins for when the games count.
Up Next: The Mets will host the Nationals on Saturday afternoon at Tradition Field. Jacob deGrom will face Stephen Strasburg at 1:10 PM.
