A pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the eighth inning from Wilmer Flores and an infield single by Jose Reyes in the bottom of the ninth earn the New York Mets a series split with the St. Louis Cardinals.
- WP: Addison Reed (1-2)
- LP: Trevor Rosenthal (2-4)
Lucas Duda opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run to right-center field, giving the Mets an early 1-0 lead.
Duda’s blast, his 17th of the season and the 125th of his career, gave him sole possession of seventh place on the team’s all-time home run leaderboard. He had been tied with Todd Hundley. He’s now 24 behind Carlos Beltran (149), who sits in sixth.
Speaking of the sixth, it was in the top of the sixth inning that the Cardinals finally got on the board. Tommy Pham laced a RBI double to center, scoring Matt Carpenter to tie things up 1-1.
Pham would strike again in the top of the eighth, sending a changeup from Mets reliever Erik Goeddel into the stands for a solo shot, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
But Wilmer Flores would answer for the Mets in the bottom of the inning. Pinch-hitting for Goeddel, he hit a deep fly ball into the left field stands, tying things up at two apiece.
With two outs and Yoenis Cespedes on third base, Jose Reyes stepped to the plate. With the Cardinals infield playing in to guard against the bunt—except first baseman Luke Voit, who was playing deep behind the bag—Reyes hit the ball exactly where he needed to.
Voit fielded the ball down the line, but the speedy Reyes beat out Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal, who was late to cover the bag, with a headfirst slide, allowing Cespedes to score the game-winning run.
Mets starter Seth Lugo tossed 4.2 innings of no-hit ball before Greg Garcia laced a double for the Cardinals first hit of the game in the top of the fifth inning. His final line in the no-decision: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
Up Next
The Mets continue their homestand Friday as they welcome the Oakland Athletics to Citi Field. The A’s will send rookie right-hander Paul Blackburn (1-0, 1.83 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) to the hill, while the Mets counter with lefty Steven Matz (2-3, 4.58 ERA, 1.35 WHIP). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.