Tonight, a game that looked like it would be all about Matt Harvey turned into a marathon in which the Mets’ ace was practically an afterthought. After 14 innings (and 4 hours and 14 minutes), the Mets (23-16) edged out the Cardinals (25-13) by a score of 2-1.
Early on, the game looked like a pitcher’s duel. Matt Harvey and opposing pitcher John Lackey were both dealing. In fact, Lackey looked like he was going to be on the losing end, but was actually pitching much more efficiently. Harvey tossed eight shutout innings, allowing just six hits and a walk while striking out a season-high nine batters. With almost 100 pitches heading into the eighth inning, it was surprising to see Terry Collins push him out there for another frame, but with how long the game went, it ended up saving the Mets from using at least another pitcher.
Lackey’s only slip-up came in the fourth, when he allowed a leadoff double to Curtis Granderson. After Granderson advanced to third on an Eric Campbell groundout, Lucas Duda hit a ground ball against the shift to bring Granderson home. Lackey exited after seven innings of one-run ball, but was clearly furious being removed after only 76 pitches.
It was then smooth sailing for the Mets until the ninth, when Terry Collins brought in Jeurys Familie to attempt to capture his 14th save of the year. With a little small ball, the Mets’ lead became all the more unstable. Familia allowed a one-out single to Matt Adams, who was then substituted out for Pete Kozma. Yadier Molina singled to right field, but Kozma was already running on the play, allowing him to advance to third. That was all Jason Heyward would need, as he hit a fly ball to right to score Kozma. Heyward’s ball wasn’t hit very deep at all, but Granderson’s arm was no match for Kozma running from third.
Familia was then able to strike out the next hitter to end the inning, beginning another fantastic pitcher’s duel, this time between bullpens. In extras, the Mets used Hansel Robles (1 IP, 2K), Erik Goeddel (0.2 P, 2 BB), Alex Torres (1.1 IP, 4K), and Carlos Torres (2 IP, 1 H, 2 K), who would eventually get the win. On offense, the Mets were able to get quite a few baserunners on in the extra innings, but couldn’t put anything together… until the 14th.
Samuel Tuivailala came in to pitch for the Cardinals, and clearly had nothing. He walked Eric Campbell to lead off the inning, and then walked Lucas Duda, too. The Cardinals then brought in closer Trevor Rosenthal to shut down the rally, but a Michael Cuddyer grounder would advance Campbell to third base. After an intentional walk to Daniel Murphy, John Mayberry played hero, hitting a ball just enough into the hole at shortstop that Jhonny Peralta couldn’t make a good throw home. Campbell was able to score, thus ending one of the more frustrating, hard-fought wins of the season.
Win Probability Breakdown
Up Next
The Mets play the second game of a four-game set tomorrow night, when Jon Niese (3-3, 2.49/.4.14/3.91) takes on Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.06/3.68/4.03).
