Mets erupt for improbable five-run rally in ninth inning to beat Cardinals
ST. LOUIS — The Mets weren’t so good for their first 26 outs at the plate Monday night, but getting them to the 27th was another story altogether.
In a wild chain of events, Max Scherzer somehow kept alive a streak of his team winning when he pitches, watching as the Mets capitalized on shoddy defensive play by the Cardinals to win 5-2 at Busch Stadium.
Mark Canha’s grounder to third base in the ninth should have been the final out of a Cardinals shutout, but Gold Glover Nolan Arenado, perhaps confused by Eduardo Escobar running toward the base, took a few steps toward third and fired errantly to first. The Mets were alive and didn’t stop until they had scored five runs.
After Jeff McNeil slapped an RBI double, pinch-hitter Dominic Smith hit a grounder behind first base. Pitcher Giovanny Gallegos was late covering the base and Smith was safe. McNeil raced home behind pinch-runner Travis Jankowski on the play, giving the Mets their first lead. Brandon Nimmo’s ensuing two-run homer provided insurance.
“I feel like this win just shows the identity of our team and especially what Buck [Showalter] preaches to us every day,” Smith said. “We’re a resilient team and I feel like we’re in it until the last pitch every night.
“Even the games we don’t come out with a win, I feel like we make it tough on our opponents when they do beat us. It just shows our DNA and what we’re about.”
In a third straight strong performance, Scherzer fired a two-hitter over seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk. Scherzer’s teams (Nationals, Dodgers and Mets) are now unbeaten in his last 17 regular-season starts.
Scherzer said he was in the clubhouse watching the TV feed (on eight-second delay) as the Mets staged their go-ahead rally.
“Everybody had a hand in that rally and that’s the cool thing,” Scherzer said. “When you see an offense go off like that and you just find a way to scratch across extra runs.”
Said Showalter: “These are games you can kind of reach back for and kind of remember why you do all this.”
Trevor May entered a scoreless game in the eighth and proceeded to load the bases before Tyler O’Neill delivered a two-run single that appeared to bury the Mets. Three nights earlier May had surrendered a two-run homer to Christian Walker that fueled an Arizona comeback before the Mets rallied to win in 10 innings.
On this night Yadier Molina and Harrison Bader singled in succession leading off the eighth against May. After Tommy Edman hit into a fielder’s choice, advancing the runners, Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases and O’Neill delivered. May has pitched to an 8.53 ERA in six appearances this season.
Goldschmidt (who singled twice) was the only Cardinals player to get a hit against Scherzer, who produced 21 swings and misses during the game. Scherzer peaked at 96.5 mph with his fastball.
Scherzer walked Edman with two outs in the third and surrendered a single to Goldschmidt, but then got rolling to retire the next eight batters he faced before Goldschmidt’s infield single in the sixth.
Miles Mikolas was trouble for the Mets, allowing four hits and one walk and a hit batter over seven shutout innings in which he struck out five. The right-hander, whose ERA dropped to 1.21, had fired five shutout innings against the Marlins in his previous start.
McNeil doubled in the fifth, but was left stranded as Mikolas rebounded to strike out Tomas Nido and retire Nimmo. The Mets had two runners on base in the second — Escobar singled and Canha was hit by a pitch — but McNeil struck out to end that threat.
“This team is grinding and this win was huge,” McNeil said. “These were the kind of games we didn’t win last year. It seemed like other teams were doing it to us.”
