The New York Mets (5-7-2) took on a split St. Louis Cardinals (5-7-2) squad at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Thursday afternoon. It was a veteran pitching matchup, with Rick Porcello on the bump for New York and Adam Wainwright starting for St. Louis. The Mets got out to a 5-0 start, but couldn’t hold on, and the two teams ended up tying by a score of 7-7. Johneshwy Fargas drove in two runs en route to hitting for the cycle, and Rick Porcello pitched well once again. Box Score

Pitching

Rick Porcello once again delivered a solid performance, going three shutout innings, allowing two hits, one walk (his first of the spring) and striking out four. Despite not having his best stuff early- he needed 24 pitches to get out of the first inning- Porcello delivered again, lowering his spring ERA to just 1.50. 

Tyler Bashlor was the second pitcher of the game for the Mets, but he struggled mightily and was not able to get out of the fourth inning. Bashlor got just two outs, giving up seven hits, three home runs, and six runs (all earned). Bashlor had a strong start to the spring, but had a nightmare of an appearance on Thursday.

Left-handed prospect David Peterson worked two innings in relief. Peterson’s command was a bit off, as he walked three batters, but was able to induce several ground balls, including a 5-4-3 double play. His fastball was sitting 93/94 mph in the first inning, but dropped to 89/90 in his second inning of work. 

Matt Blackham started the seventh inning, but struggled, recording just one out before walking the bases loaded. Stephen Villines was able to come in and limit the damage, allowing just one run to score on a sacrifice fly before retiring the side. 

Stephen Gonsalves worked a perfect eighth inning and allowed just one hit in the ninth, racking up three strikeouts along the way. He has yet to allow a run in five innings this spring. 

Offense

The Mets’ bats were active on Thursday, and the offense got rolling in the second inning. After a Ryan Cordell leadoff single, Tomas Nido’s double set up Luis Guillorme, who knocked both men in with a two-run single. Johneshwy Fargas’ triple added a third run, and then Amed Rosario’s first hit of the spring drove in the fourth run of the inning. 

Later, Jarrett Parker would hit his second home run of the spring, a solo shot off of Wainwright in the 4th. Parker also collected another hit, finishing 2-3.

Pete Alonso collected two hits (both singles), and now has hits in three consecutive games. 

In the seventh inning, with the Mets down 7-5, Patrick Mazeika entered the game to replace Tomas Nido, and he homered off of the Cardinals’ John Brebbia, cutting the lead in half. Just two batters later, Johneshwy Fargas hit one of his own out of the park, completing his cycle! After his second-inning RBI triple, Fargas had doubled in the fourth and singled in the sixth, so his game-tying homer was extra special.

The Mets finished with seven runs on 13 hits, their highest scoring output of the spring so far.

On Deck

The Mets will travel to West Palm Beach to face the Houston Astros on Friday evening, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. It will be Michael Wacha for the Mets and Lance McCullers Jr. going for Houston.