The Mets failed to take the rubber game against the Cardinals when Jeurys Familia gave up two runs in the ninth to blow the save and give St. Louis an eventual 5-4 win.
The pitching matchup favored the Cardinals since Logan Verrett was going up against Adam Wainwright, who left a lasting impression on the Mets back in 2006.
Ten years later, the Mets got to Wainwright in the second when Neil Walker drove in James Loney for the first run of the game.
That lead was short lived, however, when Matt Holliday hit a two-run double in the third to put the Cardinals on top.
Matt Adams extended the lead to 3-1 when he also hit a double in the third to plate Holliday.
That would be all Verrett—who pitched admirably—would allow. He went seven innings and struck out seven.
He also had some luck behind him when the ball bounced his way in the second.
The Mets started to chip away at the lead when Travis d’Arnaud scored on Wainwright’s wild pitch in the seventh.
Later that inning, Yoenis Cespedes crushed a two-run home run to put the Mets back on top and get a little bit of revenge for Mets fans everywhere. Statcast takes a closer look at this mammoth blast that ended Wainwright’s night.
That left it up to Jeurys Familia to protect a one-run lead in the ninth. Although he has shown flashes of pulling an Armando Benitez, he had yet to blow a save until tonight, when he went all-in.
With one out, Familia walked Jedd Gyorko on four pitches. Then Yadier Molina, another thorn from the ‘06 NLCS, came through for the Cardinals again with a double to tie the game.
Kolten Wong sealed the Mets’ fate with another double off Familia to drive in the winning run.
Despite the tough loss, manager Terry Collins hopes the team can bounce back with an early game today.
So we now have the Familia blown save, up next should be a Wilmer Flores walk-off, right?