Cardinals avoid sweep with victory over Mets

Carlos Carrasco and Dakota Hudson exchanged zeroes across the first two innings of the Mets’ series finale in St. Louis Sunday. Carrasco pitched around a bit of trouble in the first with a clutch strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt with a man on third and one out, though Goldschmidt would come back to haunt him later. Hudson, meanwhile, was bailed out by his center fielder Richie Palacios, who robbed the red hot DJ Stewart of a home run to end the second.

The Mets broke through first in the top of the third third thanks to more of their recent crisp play. After Omar Narvaez led off with a walk, Rafael Ortega replaced him at first on a force out. With Ortega in motion, Jonathan Arauz singled up the middle on the hit and run. Ortega never stopped running, taking advantage of a poor relay to score from first on the single. The Cards would answer right back with three straight singles off of Carrasco in the bottom of the frame, with an RBI knock from Goldschmidt tying the game.

With one out in the top of the fourth, Pete Alonso continued placing balls well into the Busch Stadium stands, ripping a laser into the third deck in left field to put the Mets back ahead. For a brief moment, it seemed as if the Mets could power their way to their first four game sweep in St. Louis since 1986. However, the lead would prove short-lived. Carrasco, who yielded hard contact much of the day, danced around more hard outs in the fourth only to surrender a double to Alec Burelson to lead off the fifth, followed by a long home run by Goldschmidt to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2.

The game would remain at that score until the seventh, when Trevor Gott imploded, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk over only one-third of an inning, putting the game substantively out of reach for the Mets. New York would score one in the eighth on a Francisco Alvarez RBI single—a play which ultimately ended the inning, as the ball was booted in the outfield, leading to a dubious send by Joey Cora and Alonso getting thrown out at the plate to short circuit any nascent rally. The loss drops the Mets to 58-67 as they head to Atlanta to open a three game series against the Braves.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jonathan Arauz, +13.0% WPA

Big Mets loser: Carlos Carrasco, -23.0% WPA

Mets pitchers: -33.0% WPA

Mets hitters: -17.0% WPA

Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso solo home run in the top of the fourth, +13.7% WPA

Teh sux0rest play: Paul Goldschmidt two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, -21.9% WPA