Friday night saw the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets combine for six home runs, the last of which came off the bat of right field slugger Jay Bruce.
It was Jay Bruce’s 3-for-5 one homer effort that led the power surge for the New York Mets on Friday night as they narrowly took out the Cardinals in St. Louis by the final of 6-5.
Jacob deGrom (9-3) and Carlos Martinez (6-8) both entered Friday’s NL matchup with ERAs below 3.55. However, their two offenses victimized the opposition all night.
After T.J. Rivera scored on a hit-by-pitch in the first inning, Jose Reyes took Martinez deep with a solo blast to right field in the top of the second inning.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883486431267762176
After two shutout innings from deGrom, Randal Grichuk and Paul DeJong blasted back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the third inning.
?3⃣ #STLCards 2, #Mets 2. pic.twitter.com/becrG0U1Ou
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 8, 2017
The Mets would come right back, breaking the 2-2 tie in the top of the fourth with RBIs from Travis d’Arnaud and Curtis Granderson.
RBI double for @cgrand3! 4-2 #Mets! pic.twitter.com/Q58K1KG9Sa
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 8, 2017
The Cardinals then went on to replicate their third inning antics in the following inning. Dexter Fowler and Jedd Gyorko belted back-to-back solo shots, and the game was once again tied.
Back-to-back shots again! Dexter Fowler and Jedd Gyorko go deep and this game is tied at 4-4! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/8HohFuJdoC
— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) July 8, 2017
In the top of the fifth inning, Jay Bruce continued to do what he’s been doing all season, crush the baseball. The All-Star deserving outfielder crushed a 411-foot bomb to right center field, his 23rd of the year.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883506208082100226
Two innings later, T.J. Rivera’s double scored Yoenis Cespedes, and the Mets had a healthy two-run lead, or at least they thought.
.@TJ_Rivera_ drives in @ynscspds with a double! 6-4 #Mets! #LGM pic.twitter.com/45U5yxrOsP
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 8, 2017
After an eighth-inning scare in which Gyorko scored Matt Carpenter with a sacrifice fly, Addison Reed came into the game in the bottom-half of the ninth and did his job.
PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!! METS WIN!! deGrom didn't have his best stuff, but picks up a W as Addison Reed shuts the door!! #LGM ??
— FalseMets (@FalseMets) July 8, 2017
Reed secured his 15th save of the year with a perfect inning, including a strikeout.
Martinez’ ERA grew from 3.15 to 3.40 after lasting just five innings, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, and striking out four.
Jacob deGrom let the long ball get the best of him, allowing four solo shots through four innings. The deGrominator was able to last seven innings in the winning effort, allowed eight hits, four runs, and struck out five.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, “only two other pitchers in Mets history have won games in which they yielded as many as four home runs—Rob Gardner against the Pirates in 1966 and Johan Santana against the Phillies in 2009.”
