Live Blog: Mets comeback but lose 8-7 to Cardinals in 13th
FINAL SCORE: Cardinals 8, Mets 7
WP: Mike MacDougal (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Pedro Feliciano (2-6, 2.90)
S: Ryan Franklin (19)
Bottom 13th: Franklin shut the door. Thole flied out to left. Valdes had to hit because the bench was emptied and he struck out. Reyes flied out to left. Over in 13.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 8
Top 13th: Someone had to score sooner or later and unfortunately for the fans at Citi, they waiting four-and-a-half hours to see a Cardinal score first in extra innings. After getting Jason Larue to ground out to start the inning, Feliciano plunked Schumaker and walked Lopez. Jay moved Schumaker to third on a fielder's choice for the second out. The reigning NL MVP came through, as Pujols singled to left, driving in Schumaker and moving Jay to second. Feliciano intentionally walked the red-hot Holliday to load the bases. He was Feliciano's last batter and Raul Valdes came in to pitch. With the bases loaded, a ball scooted behind Thole and Jay came running home. Thole tossed the ball to Valdes, who covered home and tagged Jay to end the inning. Last chance for the Mets and it doesn't look good. Ryan Franklin is coming in to close. He's held the opposition scoreless in nine of his last 10 appearances.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 8
Bottom 12th: Mike MacDougal relieved Miller. Beltran flied out to center, Hessman grounded to third and Francoeur grounded to short. The bats are slow and neither team is stringing together hits.
Side step: Tomorrow's game time is at 12:05 pm, an early start to accommodate day camps. Now into the fourth hour of play and no signs this will end soon, we'll see a lot of bench players taking the field tomorrow.
Top 12th: Parnell stayed in to face one more batter, giving up a single to Molina. Pedro Feliciano relieved Parnell and closed the inning. Rasmus grounded into a fielder's choice force out at second and Miles hit into a 6-6-3 double play. Reyes can do it all by himself.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Bottom 11th: Miller continues to get the job done for the Red Birds, mixing speeds, pitches and arm angles. Castillo grounded to short, Pagan fouled out to first and Wright grounded to the pitcher. It was a lackluster output in the 11th, enough to send a large number of sleepy fans to the exit.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Top 11th: Bobby Parnell relieved Rodriguez. Parnell walked Jay and got Pujols to hit into a fielder's choice. Pujols grounded to Reyes, who flipped to Castillo for the force out, but Castillo could not get the ball out of his glove in time to get Pujols at first. Castillo erased the mistake, or rather, copy and pasted over it when Holliday grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Bottom 10th: Lefty sidewinder Trevor Miller relieved McClellan. Thole lined out to shortstop, Alex Cora pinch-hit for K-Rod and flied out to center. Reyes singled to center, but during Castillo's at-bat, he was caught stealing to end the inning. High risk, high reward on the steal. If Reyes is in, he can score on a Castillo single. No reward this time, however.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Top 10th: Extras. Franky loves the big situation. After lulling pinch-hitter Ryan Ludwick with off-speed pitches, K-Rod buzzed an outside fastball to strike him out. Shumaker flied out and Lopez grounded out to end the inning. The Mets did not stay in the field long and will head to the plate with the wood still warm.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Bottom 9th: Pagan grounded to second, but Wright and Beltran strung together singles to put runners on first and second. Hessman struck out looking at a curveball, setting up a big at-bat for Francoeur. Franceour could not come through and flied out to right to stay hitless today. The game won’t be decided in regulation. The Mets are 4-7 in extra-innings games.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Top 9th:The Mets are 4-9 when tied after eight innings. The inning began with a star-studded showdown: K-Rod versus The Machine. Victory Albert, on a speedy grounder through the hole between third and short. Holliday popped up to second and slammed his bat down in frustration. Molina threw his bat out on a low fastball and deadened the ball in front of the pitcher's mound. Though Pujols advanced to second on the play, the bat was knocked out of Molina's hands and he surrendered to K-Rod, getting tagged a few feet from the batter's box for the second out. Rodriguez intentionally walked Rasmus to face the pitcher's slot, which Randy Winn filled as a pinch-hitter. Winn clubbed a grounder to Davis, who underhanded it to K-Rod for the final out at first. Headed to the bottom of the ninth with the heart of the lineup coming up.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Botom 8th: The Mets tied up the game thanks to a two-run bomb from Pagan and a two-out, pinch-hit single by Ike Davis. Castillo singled to left to lead off the inning. Pagan saw six consecutive fastballs around 95 mph, and sent the final one soaring deep into the bullpen in rightfield, his ninth of the season. Wright kept things going with a single to left, but Beltran swung through a high-and-away 96 mph fastball. Boggs was lifted after plunking Hessman to put runners on first and second with one out. Jason Motte relieved Boggs. The Mets saw more of the same from Motte: straight cheese. Cheese so hot, it might as well be fondue. Motte delivered 10 consecutive fastballs to Francoeur, dancing between 94 and 98 mph, eventually getting the rightfielder to fly out to left for the second out. Dennys Reyes relieved Motte to face Thole in a crucial lefty-lefty showdown. Thole won handedly on four straight balls. With the bases loaded, Ike Davis approached the plate as a pinch-hitter for Dessens. And Davis came through big, yanking a grounder between first and second, driving in Wright and Hessman to tie the game 7-7. Thole cruised into third because Lopez was out of position and no play could be made at third from the cutoff. Kyle McClellan relieved Reyes. McClellan walked Reyes to load the bases and when the count went ot 3-2 on Castillo the fans of Citi Field launched to their feet. The fans groaned and were crestfallen when Castillo hit a whispering grounder to short to end the inning.
Fast Fact: Leaving the lefty Reyes in was a bad idea to begin with. Davis is hitting higher against lefties this year at .274.
SCORE: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
Top 8th: Elmer Dessens relieved Takahashi. Dessens put 'em down 1-2-3, striking out Shumaker, getting Lopez to fly out to center and Jay to ground out to first.
SCORE: Mets 3, Cardinals 7
Bottom 7th: Mitchell Boggs relieved Garcia. Josh Thole pinch-hit for Blanco and grounded out to third. Chris Carter pinch-hit for Takahashi, but grounded out to second. Reyes ended the inning by popping out to center. Garcia's final line: 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO.
Pitching wrap: Remember that note in the first inning? The one about Garcia allowing more than two runs just twice this season? Yeah, that's still true.
SCORE: Mets 3, Cardinals 7
Top 7th: Hisanori Takahashi relieved Acosta. Rasmus flied out, Ryan struck out swinging at a changeup and Tyler Greene, pinch-hitting for Garcia, struck out on three pitches.
Fast Fact: Rasmus looked like he would finally meet the hype that preceded his major league career when he batted .323 to open the season in April. However, now batting .266 it looked like he still has a long way to go. He came in to tonight's game with just four hits since the all-star break.
SCORE: Mets 3, Cardinals 7
Bottom 6th: Beltran launched his first homer of the year to left to cut into the lead. Wright led off the inning trying to leg out a double, but was nabbed easily at second. He dove to the inside of the bag and banged his left knee. He limped off the field. The injury probably stung a bit more when Beltran sent the very next pitch deep into the leftfield stands. Hessman flied out and Francoeur grounded out weakly to the pitcher to end the inning.
SCORE: Mets 3, Cardinals 7
Top 6th: The top of the Cards order did their job and knocked Santana out of the game, and again the damage came with two outs. After a ground outs by Shumaker and Lopez, Jay and Pujols dunked in singles to left. Holliday doubled to right, driving in Jay and putting runners in scoring position. Manny Acosta relieved Santana and struck out Molina on a slider. Santana's final line: 5.2 IP, 13 hits, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Pitching wrap: The upside tonight is that Santana only walked one batter. The downside is that almost everything thrown across home plate was turned around for a hit.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 7
Bottom 5th: Reyes singled to left to lead off the inning, but Castillo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Castillo's grounder was a laser and the ball echoed when it punched shortstop Ryan in the chest. Kids at home watching learned the value of staying in front of the ball. Ryan absorbed the blow, swallowed up the ball and delivered a perfect feed to second to start the double play. Then, after being ahead 2-0, Pagan watched three strikes zip by him, the worst being the last: a fastball away and at the letters.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Top 5th: Santana began the inning by throwing across his body to strike out the righty Molina on an inside fastball. After a single to Rasmus, Santana induced fly outs from Ryan and Garcia. At 89 pitches thrown, Santana could actually get into the seventh if he contains the top of the Cards lineup next inning.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Bottom 4th: The Mets bottom of the order showed it was exactly that this inning. Garcia put the Mets down 1-2-3, with such ease it seemed he could have done it in his sleep. Francoeur gave no challenge, grounding to third on the first pitch. Blanco grounded to short. Santana put up the biggest fight, driving the count full, but he struck out on a heater down the middle to end the inning.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Top 4th: Santana is battling and battling well. His best sequence came against Pujols. With one out, Santana surrendered a single to Jay. With a runner on first, Santana took a long time in between pitches against Pujols, hitting all corners of the zone and eventually getting The Machine to foul out to third on a chanegup. Santana then ended the inning with a fly out from Holliday. He's at 76 pitches through four innings, a pace that should get him through two more innings and dismiss early concerns that the bullpen would be taxed tonight.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Bottom 3rd: Pagan doubled, but the Mets could not bring him home. Wright grounded out to third, Beltran flied out to left and Hessman grounded out to shortstop.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Top 3rd: Santana did a good job of doing away with the bottom of the Cards lineup. Ryan foule dout, Garcia grounded out and Schumaker struck out on three pitches. Santana walked of the mound with an extra sense of bravado this inning.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Bottom 2nd: The SNY camera closed in on Garcia and looked mean this inning. He made quick work of the Mets, striking out Santana and Reyes on heaters and getting a grounded out to second from Castillo. Garcia's stuff is not overwhelming tonight, but we'll see if the rookie can work around that. He's got a long way to go if he wants to keep this game from being the third time he's allowed more than two runs this season.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Top 2nd: Santana righted himself this inning, sending the Cards down 1-2-3. Holliday flied out to center, Molina grounded to second and Rasmus popped up to third. Santana did a better job of mixing his pitches, reaching 91 mph with his fastball and throwing three sliders. The problem is still his pitch count, which is now at 53.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Bottom 1st: The Mets are down, but not out after a surprise two-run double by Hessman. Reyes reached on a bunt single, Castillo flied out to right, Pagan walked, Wright grounded out to first and Beltran walked to load the bases for Hessman. The journeyman minor-leaguer laced a double off the top of the leftfield wall and left runners in scoring position with two outs. Francoeur uncharacteristically showed patience and took a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Blanco. Blanco popped up to the shortstop in shallow left to end the inning. Last night was the first offensive outburst by the Mets since before the All-Star break. They'll have to keep the ball rolling tonight to make up ground.
SCORE: Mets 2, Cardinals 6
Top 1st: It was inauspicious from the start for Santana. Felipe Lopez stroked the first pitch he saw - a lazy 88 mph fastball - into right for a single. Santana induced a fly out to center from Jay and a pop up to second from Pujols for the first two outs, but he hung a changeup and Holliday went yard to left to put the Cardinals up 2-0. The dinger was his 19th of the season and it extended his hit streak to 13 games. Molina followed with a single to right and Rasmus doubled to put runners in scoring position with two outs. Santana intentionally walked Ryan to load the bases for the pitcher, Garcia. Then things got out of hand. With a chance to get out of the inning with his team down just two runs, Santana gave up a two-run single up the middle to Garcia. With runners on the corners, Shumaker drove in the fifth run of the inning when he grounded to third and was safe on a late throw by Wright, who could not get a good grip on the ball. Dan Warthen came out to talk to Santana, but it did no good. Lopez singled to drive in Garcia for the sixth run, and Jay singled to load the bases for Pujols. Pujols ended the onslaught with a fly to center. When it was all said and done, Santana threw 38 pitches, giving up 8 hits and 6 runs - a career high for hits and runs allowed in the first inning. Garcia has given up more than two runs only twice this season. This one looks over early.
Pitching wrap: Santana is working with weak stuff tonight. His fastball could not break 90 mph, his changeup was not deceptive to hitters and he sparsely threw his slider.
SCORE: Mets 0, Cardinals 6
Leading off: Ike Davis has the night off and journeyman minor-leaguer Mike Hessman is making his first start of the season. Jason Bay could be headed to the DL. The Mets were loose and jovial warming up before today's game - and they should have been. They bludgeoned CY Young candidate Adam Wainwright. Beating Jaime Garcia, who is leading the race for NL Rookie of the Year with nine wins and a miniscule ERA, would make the Mets baseball's hot topic of discussion again. Needless to say it would also be signs of a major turnaround since going 2-9 on their last road trip.
Mets lineup:
- Jose Reyes ss (.277, 7, 37)
- Luis Castillo 2b (.247, 0, 14)
- Angel Pagan lf (.304, 8, 44)
- David Wright 3b (.297, 15, 69)
- Carlos Beltran cf (.205, 0, 2)
- Mike Hessman 1b (.000, 0, 0)
- Jeff Francoeur rf (.248, 9, 45)
- Henry Blanco c (.274, 2, 7)
- Johan Santana p (.143, 1, 1)
Pitching: Johan Santana (8-5, 2.79)
Cardinals lineup:
- Felipe Lopez 3b (.271, 6, 27)
- Jon Jay rf (.378, 3, 12)
- Albert Pujols 1b (.296, 23, 70)
- Matt Holliday lf (.203, 18, 57)
- Yadier Molina c (.234, 4, 38)
- Colby Rasmus cf (.266, 16, 43)
- Brendan Ryan ss (.201, 2, 19)
- Jaime Garcia p (.188, 0, 0)
- Skip Schumaker 2b (.262, 3, 23)
Pitching: Jaime Garcia (9-4, 2.21)
