Game Summary
After a one hour plus rain delay, the Mets and Cardinals matched up in a pitcher’s duel, with Liberatore carrying a no-no into the fifth inning. The taut pitcher’s duel was interrupted by a Juan Soto solo HR in the 6th, but matched up by a key two-out, two-strike RBI single by Nolan Gorman to knot the score up. The 1-1 tie carried into the 11th inning, when a bloop single by Masyn Winn brought home the extra runner (JJ Wetherholt) for a Cardinal walk-off victory.
Mathew Liberatore pitched six strong innings giving up 3 hits, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K. The Cardinals bullpen held serve for 5 more innings, pitching very sharp with the exception of Roycroft’s struggles in the tenth. Graceffo pulled a magic act escaping a bases-loaded, one-out situation and is rewarded with the walk-off win.
The Cardinals take the series, 2-1 and end the homestand 4-2. Well done by the home team. On to Detroit after an off-day tomorrow.
Line-up (and roster) machinations
- Saggese gets a start in LF, Church moves to RF, Walker gets an off-day.
- Otherwise, normal alignment with L-R-L … arranging the batting order
- If you missed it yesterday, Graceffo joined the team, with Pushard to the IL-15.
- Liberatore on the mound for the home team. Peralta for the Metropolitans.
- Soto is the only straight-up LH hitter in their line-up.
The Game Details
A view from the box score, for those who want a deeper sense of the game.
T1 – Libby starts out inducing weak contact. P6. 5-3. F9.
B1 – Wetherholt K’s. Can already see teams are peppering him high and away. The last two strikes were out of the zone, following a take on a borderline strike. Herrera singles. Burly GIDP, except Lindor forgot there was only one out and didn’t throw to first. Oops. Fielder’s indifference? Winn K’s to end the inning.
T2 – Another smooth inning for Libby. L4. 5-3. 5-3.
B2 – Gorman lines out. Sags K’s. Church with a deep fly. It must be a get-away day after a rain delay with the fast pace of the game <checks notes>.
T3 – 6-3. 1-3. 4-3. Nine up, nine down. 34 pitches first time threw the line-up. Very sharp.
B3 – Pages grounds out. Scott II K’s. Wetherholt gets a second look at Peralta. An ABS challenge goes his way (on an away pitch, of course). JJW K’s. Peralta is matching Libby with zeros and teaching an absolute master level class on how to live on the edge and then just off it with 2 strikes. He, too, is very, very sharp.
T4 – F7. K. L7.
B4 – Herrera grounds out. Burleson grounds out. Masyn Winn lines out. And the beat goes on.
T5 – L7. Sags has handled himself well today defensively. 6-3 on a nice play by Winn. Robert’s AB included a successful ABS challenge by Pages. Vientos breaks up Libby’s no-no with a 2-out double. Semien follows with a walk, following an unsuccessful ABS challenge by Pages. Libby pitching out of the stretch, just missing. Libby closes it out with a K. Still tied, 0-0.
B5 – Gorman walks. Saggese advances him with a single. Church grounds into force play after two unsuccessful bunt attempts. Church advances to 2nd on a weird wild pitch. Alvarez blocked a pitch, and then seemed to forget about Church, who then took second. Pages K’s. Scott II grounds out, stranding two.
T6 – P9. Followed by E-5, but then Lindor gets picked off while drifting off first base. Libby was paying attention, Lindor was not. Soto hits solo HR. Bichette singles. Polanco F9. Mets now up 1-0.
B6 – Wetherholt singles. Herrera walks. Burly K. Winn pops out. Gorman picks everyone up with key two-out RBI single. Brozoban in for Peralta, who pitched extremely well. Sags K’s. Now 1-1.
T7 – Stanek replaces Liberatore, who was really, really good. Lead-off single. F9. K. An E-2 (catcher’s interference) ended Stanek’s outing. Romero relieves and gets a key strikeout. Still 1-1.
B7 – Raley in for Brazoban. Walker backwards K. Pages K. Scott bunts out 1-3.
T8 – 6-3. F9. 6-3. Romero very sharp.
B8 – Weaver in for Raley. F9. K. L9.
T9 – O’Brien in for Romero. Double. K. 6-3. K. Dominance.
B9 – Williams replaced Weaver. Winn walks. Gorman lines out to right. Winn steals second to put winning run in scoring position, but F9 and another Walker K quelled the rally. Extra innings ahead, 1-1.
T10 – Bruihl in for O’Brien. Semien is the runner at second. A skipper back to Bruihl catches Semien off, but poor execution on the run down results in the batter getting to second. P6. Walk. P4 gets a big out on Soto. Nice job by Bruihl to keep the extra runner stranded. 1-1.
B10– Myers in for Williams. Pages K (his third). Scott 4-3. Wetherholt 3-1. Nothing doing here.
T11 – Roycroft in for Bruihl. Soto the extra runner. Bichette bangs one off Roycroft that became 6-3 with Soto to third. A pair of subsequent walks ended Roycroft’s outing. The wheels came off for him. The poise he was showing in spring has evaporated. Graceffo in. 4-2 force at home holds the tie. F9 allows Graceffo to wiggle out of the inning. Great job! Good moment for him. Still 1-1.
B11 – Wetherholt is the extra runner. Herrera IBB. Burleson GIDP takes the wind out of the sails, but a bloop by Winn that drops brings home some walk-off magic, 2-1 Cardinals.
Post-Game Notes
- Liberatore’s change (88 mph) is almost as hard as McGreevy’s FB. I didn’t realize his “cambio” was that firm.
- Mathews started today for Memphis. 5 K’s, 4 BB’s in 3 IP, no ER. Crook has started his season on fire, with his third HR today.
- Mets made 3 critical mental errors in this game, plus gave away challenges they’d need later. They have some clean-up work to do. Maybe Mets stands for “Mental Excursions Today”.
