Reyes hit in 9th lifts Mets over Cardinals

Jose Reyes once was one of the fastest players in baseball. Now in his 15th season, he may have lost a step or two.

He was still speedy enough Thursday.

Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was late covering first base on a grounder by Reyes that turned into a game-winning single with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the New York Mets over St. Louis 3-2.

A leadoff walk and T.J. Rivera’s single put runners on the corners with two outs. Reyes then hit a grounder up the first base line, and Matt Carpenter fielded it cleanly well behind the bag.

Rosenthal (2-4) was slow to leave the mound, and Reyes easily beat him to the base with a headfirst dive.

“I saw the first baseman play-

ing way back and I said in my mind if you hit something there, you know, hustle to first base,” Reyes said. “When I saw the pitcher, he was standing on the mound for like two seconds and I said, man, it’s going to be tough for him to beat me to first base.”

Carpenter never even made a throw. Rosenthal

hurdled Reyes as they crossed paths.

“I knew he was playing behind the bag. I got caught looking,” Rosenthal said. “It’s a fundamental play, a PFP. If we expect guys to play defense behind us, we’ve got to do our part, too.”

Apparently, all the pitchers’ fielding practice in spring training didn’t pay off.

“You got to get over. I turned and looked to throw and he’s nowhere close,”

Carpenter said.

Reyes’ fourth career walkoff RBI gave the Mets a split of the four-game series.

“If the pitcher gets off the mound right away I don’t think he makes it,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “But when you delay like that and you’ve got a guy that runs like Jose runs, who runs hard all the time, that’s going to be a tough play.”

Addison Reed (1-2) pitched a perfect ninth.