The Mets (48-44) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (58-34) by a score of 3-1 in 18 innings today at Busch Stadium.
Jon Niese tossed his eighth quality start in a row this afternoon, going 7.2 strong innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking three. His day came to an end when he drilled Randal Grichuk with a pitch, and was removed in favor of Bobby Parnell who struck out Jhonny Peralta to end the eighth.
Unfortunately for Niese who has pitched to a 2.78 ERA over the span of those last eight starts, the Mets offense was missing in action yet again, as they couldn’t even give the lefty a solitary run to work with, as he is forced to settle with a no-decision.
The Mets had runners in scoring position in eight separates innings before they were finally able to convert a run in the thirteenth inning, after Curtis Granderson doubled and was driven in by Kevin Plawecki. However, a bigger problem is still at hand, as the Mets only went 1-for-26, with 25 runners left on base today.
With a 1-0 lead, Jeurys Familia came on to shut the door for the Mets in the bottom of the thirteenth, but Kolten Wong took him deep to tie the game, as Familia blew a rare save.
With countless opportunities to pull ahead in the game, the Mets were finally able to get ahead for good in the eighteenth inning.
The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out after Wilmer Flores and Curtis Granderson singled, and Kevin Plawecki reached first after he dropped down a bunt and it was botched by Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez.
Ruben Tejada, who went 3-for-6 with two walks on the day, hit a sacrifice fly to break the tie, 2-1 Mets.
The next batter, Eric Campbell, dropped down a suicide squeeze to score Curtis Granderson, but was thrown out at first after a video review, however, it wouldn’t matter as Carlos Torres threw a 1,2,3 eighteenth to give the Mets a win, and salvage the final game of the series.
Despite the lack of offense, an admirable job by the Mets bullpen today, as Bobby Parnell, Jenrry Mejia, Hansel Robles, Sean Gilmartin and Carlos Torres combined to pitch 9.1 scoreless innings and keep the Mets afloat, and eventually earning the win.
On deck:
What a crazy game. Now it’s off to Washington for a series that may very well make or break the season. Matt Harvey (8-6, 3.07 ERA) faces off against Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.99 ERA) for the series opener. First pitch is at 7:05 PM.
