Thursday’s Game Report: Mets 4, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
After losing five of the six games on their first road trip of the season, the Cardinals started their second trip on Thursday night hoping for better results.
It did not get off to a good start.
The Mets held the Cardinals to just three hits and used a four-run second inning against Andre Pallante to win the opener of their four-game series in New York.
The Cardinals did not have a hit after the fourth inning as the Mets retired 18 of the last 20 batters, with walks letting those two runners reach base.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals only run scored in the third when Victor Scott II led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Brendan Donovan … That hit extended Donovan’s hit streak to 13 consecutive games … Their only other hit was a bunt single by Alec Burleson leading off the fourth … Donovan’s hit was the only hit for the Cardinals in four at-bats with a runner in scoring position … They struck out 11 times, three by Pedro Pages.
On the mound: Pallante gave up a leadoff homer to Mark Vientos in the second and the Mets bunched four more hits to score three additional runs in the inning … Pallante retired 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced, allowing only a single to Francisco Lindor in the fifth … Matt Svanson made his major-league debut in the seventh inning, retiring the first two hitters he faced before giving up a double, then getting a line drive to complete a scoreless inning … John King pitched around a one-out walk in the eighth.
Key stat: The four runs allowed by Pallante were the most by a Cardinals starter in the last nine games.
Worth noting: After first expecting to continue rehabbing from back spasms this weekend in St. Louis, Masyn Winn will instead head to Memphis for a rehab assignment beginning on Friday night. If there are no setbacks over the weekend Winn is expected to rejoin the Cardinals next week in Atlanta. He is eligible to come off the injured list on Tuesday.
Up next: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Friday night in the second game of the series.
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