Mets vs. Cardinals recap: If the Mets had five Jacob deGroms, they’d be in first place

In an alternate timeline, a Mets victory over the Cardinals in late July would be important, profound, exhilarating. In this one, that might not be the case, but the way things have gone for the Mets this year, it’s nice to at least see the Cardinals lose a game.

And maybe that’s what this season will be the rest of the way. With the Mets making it clear that they won’t make a run at a playoff spot, it’s comforting to see other organizations that weren’t supposed to be here struggling, too. It would have been great to see the Mets make the postseason for the third year in a row, but maybe this season turns out to be a blip rather than the beginning of a bad trend.

As for the game at hand, it was mostly an easy one. The Mets scored three times in the first and four more in the second, and Jacob deGrom had put up zeroes in the top of both of those frames. He kept the goose eggs coming until there were two outs in the seventh inning, and even then, he gave up only one run.

At the plate, Asdrubal Cabrera had a standout 3-for-5 night, but Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Reyes, and Travis d’Arnaud had a couple of hits apiece, too. Things got a little dicey late despite the overall success, as the Mets didn’t score again and Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins combined to give up a pair of runs in the eighth before Addison Reed was called upon to save the day. But he got all four outs he needed.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Yoenis Cespedes, +14.4% WPA, Jacob deGrom, +11.6% WPA, Lucas Duda, +10.4% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda doubles to score Cespedes in the first, +10.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Adam Wainwright draws a pinch-hit walk to load the bases in the eighth, -2.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +12.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: +37.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Jay Bruce