Syndergaard dazzles, defense and the bullpen do not

After a roller coaster of a series finale, the Mets lost to the Cardinals 4-3 in thirteen innings of play. Not only was this the series finale against the Cardinals, this was also the season finale as the Mets won’t face off against St. Louis again until 2019. The Mets and Cardinals were evenly matched as they tied in the season series, winning three games each.

The Mets got off on the right food this afternoon as they quickly scored in the first inning against Carlos Martinez. Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch to start the game and Yoenis Cespedes smacked a double down the line to put the Mets up 1-0 early. That was the only run scored until the seventh inning, as both Syndergaard and Martinez really hit their stride in the early half of this game.

Noah Syndergaard pitched what is probably his best start of the year in tonight’s losing effort. Syndergaard didn’t allow a hit until Tommy Pham’s single in the bottom of the fourth, but he was erased on a caught stealing, keeping Syndergaard at the minimum through four. That too didn’t last as the newest Met-killer Paul DeJong singled in the bottom of the fifth.

The second run that was scored was also in favor of the Mets and off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. Following a pair of singles by Amed Rosario and the perpetually happy Brandon Nimmo, Cespedes hit a sacrifice fly to Marcell Ozuna in left field and Rosario came across the plate to score, putting the Mets up 2-0 in the seventh.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals also started to get their offense going in the seventh inning. The bandaged Tommy Pham got things started early with a double to left that Cespedes couldn’t come up with. Two batters later, Marcell Ozuna singled to right and Pham came home with the Cardinals’ first run of the day against Syndergaard. Things got a little bit dicey with two outs as Paul “Chipper Jones” DeJong smoked a liner that Todd Frazier couldn’t gather and put a runner at third with two outs. But, the damage was limited as Kolten Wong flew out to end the threat.

The Cardinals quickly went back to work in the eighth inning after an error by Amed Rosario on a Greg Garcia grounder got them started. Pinch hitter Yadier Molina struck out, but Matt Carpenter singled to put runners at the corners with only one out. Robert Gsellman came into the game and immediately gave up an RBI-single to Tommy Pham on his first pitch of the game.

Things remained calm until the Mets’ half of the tenth inning, when things started to go wrong for the redbirds. Luke Gregerson got the first two outs easily, but after singles by Bruce and Frazier, and a walk to Gonzalez, Jose Lobaton came up with the bases loaded and a chance to put the Mets ahead. For Lobaton, the best action was inaction as he too watched four balls go by and Bruce came home with the tying run on the walk.

The good times didn’t last for long as things went south for the Mets in the bottom of the inning. Much like Gregerson, Jeurys Familia got two quick outs and looked to seal the deal for the Mets. The next batter, Tommy Pham, singled to bring up the very talented Jose Martinez with a chance to tie the game. Martinez hit a fly ball to center that went over the head of Juan Lagares and tied things back up at three.

The Mets would not go back ahead in this game, in fact, they wouldn’t even get a hit for the final three innings of the game. With Paul Sewald in his second inning of work after taking over for A.J Ramos, things quickly started to unravel. Sewald got the first out but a walk to Martinez and a single by Ozuna set the table for Dexter Fowler with a chance to end it. Fowler capitalized on this opportunity and sent the Cardinal fans home happy.

The Mets continue their road trip tomorrow with a 10:10 PM game against the San Diego Padres tomorrow at Petco Park. Jacob deGrom will face off against Clayton Richard in the first game of the series.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Jose Lobaton, +27.2% WPA, Noah Syndergaard, +16.6 WPA, A.J. Ramos, +13.6 WPA, Seth Lugo, +13.6 WPA
Big losers: Jeurys Familia, -30.2 WPA, Paul Sewald, -22.8% WPA, Asdrubal Cabrera, -19.8% WPA, Amed Rosario, -14.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jose Lobaton’s 10th inning RBI-walk, +31.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jose Martinez’s RBI-double in the 10th inning, -51.0% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -10.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: -39.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Dexter Fowler