Mets takeaways from Saturday's 13-2 win against Cardinals, including a dominant performance to extend winning streak to four games
The Mets got equal parts power and great pitching to extend their winning streak to four games (and six of seven) with a 13-2 win over the Cardinals on Saturday night.
Here are the takeaways…
- The Mets got on the board early after back-to-back singles from Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil with one out in the first inning. Pete Alonso would strike out swinging but McNeil took off for second before stopping halfway, the bait worked as Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner threw over the head of Tommy Edman allowing Lindor to score from third.
The duo would push across another run this time in the third. After Lindor hit a hustle, two-out double, McNeil hit a bullet to Paul Goldschmidt who couldn’t handle the hop, which allowed Lindor to score and put the Mets up 2-0.
Lindor now has a six-game hitting streak and finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs. McNeil went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run, and has now hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games.
The Mets scored three more runs in the eighth when Lindor singled with the bases loaded but third baseman Taylor Motter -- in for Arenado as a replacement -- threw it away.
- The Mets showed they can score via the long ball as well. DJ Stewart continued to show his power during his latest stint with the Mets. He launched a solo shot in the fourth inning to put the Mets up 3-0 at the time and finished 2-for-4 with an RBI single to go along with his homer. Stewart now has three home runs in his last three games and four over his last seven.
Daniel Vogelbach broke the game open in the fifth with a two-out grand slam off of starter Miles Mikolas to put the Mets up 7-1.
Alonso would get in on the fun in the seventh when he launched a two-out, two-run shot. That long ball, which went 466 feet, was Alonso's 38th of the season and he still trails Matt Olson (43) for the NL lead. He finished 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs.
- In Senga’s last start, he gave up three first-inning runs to the Braves before settling down. He didn’t have that problem on this night but it was an odd outing for the rookie.
Usually throwing his ghost forkball a quarter of the time, the righty used his signature pitch judicially. However, he used his other pitches to great effect by locating them to get through seven innings of one run ball. The only blemish on his ledger was a solo shot to Nolan Arenado in the fourth inning.
Senga went seven innings (97 pitches) giving up one run, two hits, two walks and striking out five. Senga’s first strikeout of the game, against Goldschmidt in the fourth, gave him 150 for his career and is now just the fifth Japanese-born player to reach that mark in a season.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets wrap up their four-game series with the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:15 p.m.
Carlos Carrasco (3-6, 6.40 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mets and he’ll go up against RHP Daniel Hudson (4-0, 4.03 ERA).
