The Mets recorded 10 hits and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Here are the takeaways…
– DJ Stewart drove in Francisco Lindor from first base on a double to the wall in left-center field, giving New York an early 1-0 lead. It’s the third straight game the Mets have scored in the first inning.
– Sean Manaea started the game strong, allowing a leadoff single before settling in to get three straight outs. The left-hander allowed a two-out double in the second, but escaped the inning without any damage thanks to a diving catch from Jeff McNeil that’ll be seen later on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays.
Manaea kept it going with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth. The lefty retired two more Cardinals in the fifth inning to give him nine straight outs, but Masyn Winn hit ground-rule double to snap the streak. He started to cool down on the mound in the sixth, allowing a leadoff single and an RBI double to Willson Contreras to make it a 3-1 game. After two straight outs, Ivan Herrera doubled off Manaea to tie the game at 3-3, but was thrown out at third to end the side.
Manaea’s night ended after six innings, allowing the three runs on six hits with just one strikeout and one walk over 89 pitches. His season ERA now sits at a 3.31. He’s the first Mets starter to earn a win since April 17.
– The New York bats woke up in the fifth inning. Tomas Nido recorded his second hit of the night and advanced to third base on Brandon Nimmo‘s line drive that was misplayed by the right fielder Lars Nootbaar, allowing him to go to second. Starling Marte drove in Nido on a groundout and Francisco Lindor hit a sacrifice fly to score Nimmo as the Mets took a 3-0 lead.
– Nimmo crushed a hanging slider to give the Mets a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning. It’s Nimmo’s fourth home run of the year and just the first allowed by Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge.
– Pete Alonso came into the game for Joey Wendle in the sixth inning with Stewart moving to left field and McNeil moving to second base. It was Alonso’s first, non-start after 126 consecutive starts. He lined out to second base in his lone at-bat of the night in the eighth inning.
– McNeil, who had been 1 for his last 21, slapped a single to center in the top of the ninth.
– Adam Ottavino came in for relief in the eighth and kept the score intact, allowing one single and striking out one. Edwin Diaz bounced back after blowing a save against Tampa Bay. The righty used his fastball early and often to strike out Alec Burleson. Diaz then got a groundout to Alonso at first and another to McNeil at second to seal the victory.
GAME MVP: Brandon Nimmo
Nimmo finished the game 2-for-5 and his home run proved to be the deciding factor in the game. The outfielder has been swinging a hot bat as of late, going 8-for-25 (.320 average) with a .560 SLG and four RBI over his last seven games.
