Final Score: Cardinals 9, Mets 5—Sounds Familia

The Mets possessed two leads in this game, but neither of them lasted particularly long. Steven Matz was handed a 1-0 lead after a Todd Frazier RBI single plated the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. However, a double, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly tied the game for the Cardinals in the third.

Despite Daniel Ponce de Leon’s control issues—he walked four batters in his four innings of work—the Mets were unable cash in any further against him. The game remained knotted at one until the fifth when Matz surrendered a one-out walk to Dexter Fowler. It looked like he would escape the inning when Tommy Edman hit a sharp grounder to Todd Frazier that would have been a double play ball, but it nicked off of Frazier’s glove for an error. The Cardinals made the Mets pay for that defensive mishap when Jose Martinez delivered a pinch-hit three-run homer to put the Cardinals ahead 4-1.

The Mets managed to claw back and take the lead off the Cardinals bullpen. Steven Matz started things off with a solo homer off Tyler Webb in the fifth inning to cut the Cardinals’ lead to two runs.

The Mets then took the lead in the seventh. Andrew Miller had a rough day on the mound, loading the bases without retiring a batter. Miller was removed from the game for John Gant, who almost got out of the inning. But the Cardinals had a defensive miscue of their own when Kolten Wong, newly switched into the game, threw to second base low on a would-be double play grounder from Pete Alonso, which plated a run to bring the Mets within a run. Gant retired the next two batters, but Wilson Ramos delivered a key two-out single to drive in two runs and give the Mets the lead.

But Jeurys Familia followed with a disastrous eighth inning that resulted in four Cardinal runs, via two home runs—a solo shot by Met killer Paul DeJong and a three-run blast by Dexter Fowler. It was nothing short of a total meltdown by Familia, who was giving up hard contact even on the outs he recorded in the frame. The Cardinals added a run in the top of the ninth in the form of a Kolten Wong solo homer off Hector Santiago to seal the deal.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

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

1. MetsFan4Decades: 111
2. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 73
3. John Oldnrude: 66
4. AnneInFlushing: 50
5. MookieTheCat: 43
6. David Klein: 42
7. deegie: 42
8. Knurk: 37
9. stickguy: 29
10. Teddy2Diggs: 16