Mets lose 15-5 to the Cardinals at home, and 7-3 to the Astros on the road

The New York Mets lost a pair of games today in Grapefruit League action. The team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 15-5 at home at First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, and to the Houston Astros 7-3 on the road at FITTEAM Ballpark of The Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.

Mets vs. Cardinals

The Mets lost the first game today, losing to the Cardinals 15-5 at home at First Data Field in Port St. Lucie. While the Met offense came out swinging early and often, beginning with Jeff McNeil hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning, the Met pitching staff and defense were unable to keep the Cardinals from scoring. Hector Santiago started for the Mets and had his second straight rough outing, allowing five earned runs in three innings of work. Santiago’s performance was followed, after a single clean inning from Ryan O’Rourke, by a complete bullpen implosion, in which P.J. Conlon, Adonis Uceta, Joe Cavallaro, and Sean Burnett combined to give up 10 total runs, including 8 earned runs, in 5 innings of relief. The defense behind them certainly didn’t help matters, as Peter Alonso, Rajai Davis, and Jeff McNeil all contributed errors.

Some more notes from today’s game:

• Jeff McNeil had yet another excellent day at the plate, going 3-for-5 including a long home run off of former-Met prospect John Gant in the first inning. McNeil is now hitting .364/.364/.614 in 44 at bats this spring.
• Pete Alonso had another strong day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two singles and an RBI on the day. Alonso has continued to produce at the plate, and is now hitting .356/.387/.627, with a 1.014 OPS, in 59 at bats this spring.
• Robinson Cano went 2-for-4, and is currently hitting a blistering .447/490/.638 in 47 at bats in Grapefruit League play.
• Travis d’Arnaud caught five innings in the home game before being replaced by Tomas Nido in the top of the 6th inning. d’Arnaud went 1-for-2 with a single and strikeout.
• Amed Rosario drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rosario went 1-for-5 today and is currently hitting .314/.429/.543 in 35 at bats this spring.
• Ronny Mauricio, currently ranked as the fifth best prospect in the system on Amazin Avenue’s top 25 prospect list for 2019, started the game at DH. The 17-year-old shortstop held his own against much older competition, going 1-for-3 with a single, an RBI on a sacrifice fly, and a strikeout in four plate appearances.
• Hector Santiago had his second consecutive rough outing. Santiago surrendered 5 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings of work. His ERA for the spring currently stands at 11.17 in 9.2 innings pitched.
• Ryan O’Rourke delivered a scoreless inning in relief. His ERA for the spring currently stands at 1.74 in 10.1 innings of work.

Full box score: MLB.com

Mets vs. Astros

The Mets lost the second game they played today on the road against the Houston Astros in West Palm Beach. The Mets were able to get to Astros’ starter Brad Peacock early, tagging him for 3 runs during his 4.1 innings of work. Unfortunately, that was not enough to make up for a shaky start from Jason Vargas, who allowed 4 earned runs on 6 hits in his 5.2 innings of work. Vargas also walked 2, struck out 3, and gave up home runs to Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman before being replaced by Edwin Diaz with 2 outs in the sixth inning. Things weren’t much easier for newly-acquired closer Edwin Diaz, who allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits in 0.1 innings pitched before getting the final out of the sixth inning. From there the Met offense was pretty quiet, although they did manage to load the bases and get the tying run to the plate in the ninth before a Juan Lagares strikeout ended the game.

Some more notes from today’s game:

• Brandon Nimmo followed up yesterday’s multi-homer game with another solid day at the plate. Nimmo tripled off of Brad Peacock to start the game, and went 1-for-4, with a walk and a strikeout today. Nimmo is currently hitting .286/.321/.510 in 49 at bats so far in Grapefruit League play. He also was robbed of an extra base hit when Astros’ center fielder Myles Straw made an excellent catch on a fly ball driven to the wall in the top of the third inning.
• Michael Conforto’s home run streak ended today, as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and an RBI on a fielder’s choice today. Conforto is hitting .255/.305/.545 in 55 at bats this spring.
• Dom Smith continued his hot streak today, contributing two singles to the losing effort. He went 2-for-4 in the road game, and is currently hitting .362/.412/.468 in 47 at bats this spring.
• J.D. Davis went 1-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and a run scored against the Astros. He is currently hitting .296/.345/.426 in 54 at bats so far this spring.
• Luis Guillorme continued to make a case that he should win the back-up shortstop job, going 2-for-4 with a double, and scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. Guillorme has played extremely well this spring, and is currently hitting .371/.476/.571 in 35 at bats this spring.
• Adeiny Hechavarria contributed a double, and drove in a run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly. Hechavarria has struggled since being invited to camp, and is currently hitting .242/.270/.424 in 33 at bats.
• Both Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson contributed scoreless innings in relief.

Full box score: MLB.com