Mets Defeat Cardinals as Jeff McNeil Saves Bullpen From Itself

Mets catcher Wilson Ramos tagging out the Cardinals’ Jack Flaherty at the plate for the final out in a victory on Saturday night.Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Second baseman Jeff McNeil made a game-saving throw from right field to home plate for the final out, and the Mets held off the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7, on Saturday night at Citi Field after starter Noah Syndergaard exited with a strained right hamstring.

Pete Alonso smashed a mammoth three-run homer for the Mets off the facing of the third deck in a five-run first inning against Michael Wacha (4-3). J. D. Davis homered and had four hits. And this time, the Mets’ beleaguered bullpen finally held on — barely — after blowing late leads in the first two games of the series.

Seth Lugo struck out three in the eighth, fanning Matt Carpenter with the bases loaded to end the inning. The struggling closer Edwin Diaz gave up a two-out R.B.I. single to Yadier Molina in the ninth, and Kolten Wong lofted a blooper toward the right-field line.

McNeil sprinted a long way in pursuit and converged with outfielder Michael Conforto, but neither was able to get there in time to make the catch. Conforto tumbled to the ground, but McNeil stayed on his feet and quickly grabbed the ball as it trickled away.

He turned and made a perfect one-hop throw to the plate, easily nailing Jack Flaherty — a pitcher who was pinch-running for Molina.

Noah Syndergaard, with the trainer Brian Chicklo, leaving the game in the seventh inning with a strained hamstring.Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Flaherty looked back at the ball between second and third and then stumbled a bit coming around third, and it cost him.

A fired-up McNeil pumped his right arm, and the Mets celebrated after a narrow escape.

Syndergaard (5-4) reached for his right hamstring after throwing a pitch in the seventh. Mets Manager Mickey Callaway and an athletic trainer went out to check on the right-hander, who quickly walked off the field with a bit of a limp.

Robert Gsellman entered with the Mets leading by 8-3. St. Louis scored three runs before the inning was over.

Syndergaard threw 102 pitches. He was charged with five runs, four earned, and six hits in six-plus innings.

Dexter Fowler homered early and had three R.B.I. for the Cardinals, who stole six bases — their most in 20 years. The Mets bane Paul DeJong added three hits and a sacrifice fly.

INSIDE PITCH

Mets second baseman (left quadriceps) rejoined the team and is eligible to come off the injured list on Sunday. He went 4 for 10 with three doubles in three games during a rehabilitation stint at Class AAA Syracuse. … The left-hander was scheduled for a rehab appearance at Class A Brooklyn after making two with Syracuse. He has been sidelined since May 7 with a sore left elbow. … Outfielder (neck) was returning to New York to be examined and treated after he was scratched from a scheduled rehab appearance with Syracuse with neck stiffness on Friday night. Nimmo has not played in the majors since May 20.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tennessee preacher-cop calls for execution of LGBTQ people

Image
(CNN) Authorities in Tennessee are reviewing all pending cases involving a Knox County Sheriff's Office detective after he gave a sermon at his church that called for the government to execute members of the LGBTQ community. "They are worthy of death," Grayson Fritts said in a June 2 sermon at All Scripture Baptist Church, a small church in Knoxville that he leads. The church posted the sermon online and then removed it, according to The Washington Post. The video was picked up by the Tennessee Holler, an independent liberal news outlet, and edited into a six-minute clip. "God has instilled the power of civil government to send the police in 2019 out to the LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them, and if they are convicted, then they are to be put to death," he said in the clip. Fritts said it would be easy to find people to arrest at events such as gay pride parades. "We have a bunch of them we're going to get conv...
Read more

Trump claims he exerted "no pressure whatsoever" in released Ukraine call — live updates

President Trump claims he exerted "no pressure whatsoever" over Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, as Mr. Trump continues to hold meetings with other world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly after the release of the partial transcript of his July call . In an odd turn of events, one of those world leaders the president is scheduled to meet with Wednesday afternoon is Zelensky. But Americans can decide for themselves whether Mr Trump exerted pressure over a foreign leader to investigate his political rival. In the much-anticipated memorandum of the call, Mr. Trump urges Zelensky to look into unsubstantiated claims that former Vice President Joe Biden allegedly tried to stop prosecution that would affect his son. The president, according to the call memo, urged Ukraine to work with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the matter. The memo, however, is not verbatim, but rather, a summar...
Read more

Social media blocked as Liberians protest 'corruption and creeping dictatorship'

Image
Demonstrators in Monrovia, Liberia, during an anti-government march to protest inflation and corruption. Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Thousands of Liberians gathered in the capital Monrovia Friday to protest "corruption and creeping dictatorship" in the country. Social media sites were later blocked to quell the protests, according to the internet monitoring platform NetBlocks. WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Google's Gmail service and the website of The Associated Press were among the sites affected, NetBlocks said. Bai Sama G. Best, managing director of Liberia's Daily Observer newspaper, told CNN most journalists and some citizens are using virtual private networks (VPN) to bypass the restrictions. Liberia's Minister of Information Eugene Nagbe confirmed that social media platforms were shutdown temporarily because of "security concerns." "We have restored some of them," he said. "We are not saying that the protesters ...
Read more