Final Score: Cardinals 9, Mets 2 — Terrific organization beats terrible organization

The Mets scored two runs in the first inning tonight against the Cardinals, then stunk up the joint for the rest of the game. First baseman Daniel Murphy's throwing error in the fifth inning led to five unearned runs charged to starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner, giving the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. The death blow in that frame was a three-run home run hit by Allen Craig. The Cardinals later tacked on three more runs to further embarrass their opponent.

Things weren't looking so dire in that first inning. Omar Quintanilla hit a solo home run to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Marlon Byrd hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded four batters later to put the Mets up 2-0 on Cardinals starter Michael Wacha (pronounce it "Wocka"). However, after John Buck walked, Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning, squandering a chance for the Mets to put a big number on the scoreboard early. The Mets managed just four baserunners after the first inning, although they did hit a number of fly balls to the warning track.

That makes three losses in a row for our heroes, and seven losses in their last eight games.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.