The New York Mets (63-63) were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals (67-58) by a score of 8-1 on Wednesday night in Busch Stadium. The loss brings the Mets back to .500 and 4.5 games behind the cards for the second wild card spot.
Offense:
After Jay Bruce led off the second with a bloop double down the left field line, he was removed from the game due to injury. Alejandro De Aza came in as a pinch runner. At the time it was unclear why he left, but it was later disclosed he left due to a cramp in his right calf.
Then with one out, Asdrubal Cabrera laced a double to the right-center gap to score De Aza and tie the game at 1.
Carlos Martinez shut down the Mets over 8 innings tonight, allowing only four hits. Kelly Johnson and Jacob deGrom had hits in addition to Bruce and Cabrera.
The “Final Boss” Seung-hwan Oh came in to preserve an 8-1 lead in the 9th inning and did just that, retiring the Mets 1-2-3 to end the game.
Pitching:
Jacob deGrom started for the Mets tonight and was greeted rudely by a leadoff solo home run by Matt Carpenter. The night would have more of the same in store for Jake as the Cardinals rocked him for 5 earned runs on 12 hits in just 4.2 innings pitched. He struck out 3 and walked 2. He just did not have good stuff tonight, as well as being only around 93 mph with his fastball. This is his second bad start in a row.
Erik Goeddel came in relief for deGrom and pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two runs and two hits while striking out three and walking one.
Hansel Robles came in after Goeddel, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and striking out one. One of the hits he allowed scored one of the runners he inherited from Goeddel, also allowing an earned run of his own in the 8th.
Mets pitching allowed a whopping 19 hits on the night. With the exception of Matt Carpenter, every Cardinals starter had at least two hits, including starting pitcher Carlos Martinez.
Notes:
Verizon Trivia Question: Who was the 2000 NLCS MVP?
Jon Niese will undergo surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus. Niese blames the Mets defense for his injury.
Fun Fact: Rogers Hornsby was a coach on the 1962 Mets. If you don’t know about him, click on his name and look at his stats. Go on, do it.
Jacob deGrom’s last two rough outings mark the first time in Mets history that a Mets starter has given up 12 or more hits in consecutive starts.
The 19 hits allowed by Mets pitchers is the most since 9/20/12 in a 16-1 loss to the Phillies.
Verizon Trivia Answer: Mike Hampton
On Deck:
Thursday, Mets rookie Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04) will face off against Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71 ERA) at 7:15 PM in St. Louis.
