The New York Mets end the season’s first half with a whimper, mustering just three hits in a shutout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Sunday’s National League matchup between the St. Louis and New York was one to forget for Mets fans. Steven Matz (2-2) was not his usual self, while Lance Lynn (7-6) put on a show for the Cardinals.
The first inning saw Jedd Gyorko score Matt Carpenter on a ground out.
After a smooth second inning for Matz, Tommy Pham deposited an opposite-field home run to right field in the third, scoring Matt Carpenter, and quickly putting the Cardinals out front 3-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Paul DeJong hit a 434-foot solo bomb to left field, extending the Cardinals lead to four runs. DeJong hit home runs in all three games of the series.
Matz’s struggles continued in the fifth inning as Yadier Molina scored Pham with a RBI single, ending the starter’s day.
Erik Goeddel and Seth Lugo combined for 3.2 innings of relief, but Luke Voit hit St. Louis’ eighth homer of the series in the bottom of the sixth off Lugo.
Matz entered Sunday’s contest with a 2.12 ERA and finished with a 3.05 ERA after allowing seven hits, five earned runs, and striking out just one over 4.1 innings.
Lynn threw seven innings of three-hit ball, walked just one batter, allowed no earned runs, and lowered his ERA to 3.61.
The Mets are off until Friday when the Colorado Rockies will visit Citi Field to begin the season’s second-half.