Alonso HR in 10th tops Cards
Win comes after the news that Scherzer will be out 6-8 weeks
There are two constants to the Mets’ season: injuries and wins.
They learned Thursday that Max Scherzer will join fellow ace Jacob degrom on the injured list for a lengthy stretch. Then New York wasted a ninth-inning lead against the St. Louis Cardinals and fell behind in the 10th.
Pete Alonso ended an afternoon of twists with a tworun homer into the left-field second deck leading off the bottom of the 10th for a 7-6 victory that sent the Mets flying even before they headed to Colorado for the start of a six-game trip.
“We’re just a bunch of resiliant guys, and we’re gritty,” Alonso said after a 447foot drive that was so emphatic he patted his chest five times with both hands before starting his trot. “When you get guys that are talented and love to win and are a group of tough men, you get games like this.”
New York took three of four from the Cardinals and at 26-14 is tied for the fourthbest 40-game start in Mets history. In a game with four lead changes, Jeff Mcneil had a tiebreaking, two-run single, three RBIS and made two snazzy catches.
The Mets said during the game that Scherzer had been diagnosed with a strained oblique muscle in his left side after leaving Wednesday night’s win following a pitch. Scherzer is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, another blow to a team that leads the NL East despite missing degrom, No. 5 starter Tylor Megill and catcher James Mccann to injuries, along with relievers Sean Reid-foley and Trevor May.
“It’s a great opportunity for guys that we’re talking about bringing in here,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Got some guys that will meet us in Denver and try to hold the fort.”
Mcneil, hitting .400 with runners in scoring position, had a run-scoring infield groundout in the first and a two-run single in the fifth off Nick Wittgren that put the Mets ahead 5-3.
He climbed the wall in left-field foul territory to grab Paul Goldschmidt’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly, pushed off with his right foot and threw to second to nab Brendan Donovan, who tried to tag up from first. Then, with a runner on first in the eighth, Mcneil made a sliding catch on a soft liner to deny Dylan Carlson and threw to second from his back.
“He’s the Flying Squirrel for a reason,“Alonso said.
Goldschmidt had four RBIS for the banged-up Cardinals, who trailed 2-0 before rookie Juan Yepez homered in the second for the first of his three hits.
Goldschmidt went deep in the third off Chris Bassitt and his RBI double gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead in the fifth but Brandon Nimmo’s RBI grounder tied the score in the bottom half before Mcneil’s go-ahead hit.
Harrison Bader reached on an infield hit leading off the ninth for his third single, stole second for the second time on the day and advanced to third on a groundout. Goldschmidt tied the score 5-all with a two-out infield single off a foot of third baseman Eduardo Escobar as Edwin Diaz blew a save for the second time in 11 chances.
Albert Pujols brought home the automatic runner with a run-scoring doubleplay grounder off Colin Holderman (1-0) in the 10th before Alonso’s blast ended it.