Saturday’s Game Report: Mets 3, Cardinals 0
By Rob Rains
Despite being held to just three hits, the Cardinals had plenty of chances to try to support a quality start from Matthew Liberatore on Saturday against the Mets.
They came up empty on all of those chances, however, as the Mets handed the Cardinals their third consecutive loss in the series in New York.
Five walks helped create some of those offensive chances, but the Cardinals were hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base, five of them in scoring position.
The Cardinals scored a combined five runs in their three consecutive losses to the Mets, four of them coming in Saturday night’s game.
Here’s how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Thomas Saggese had two of the three hits, both doubles. The Cardinals’ other hit was a single by Willson Contreras … The Cardinals had runners on second and third with one out in the second; a runner on third with no outs in the fifth, runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth and the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth but could not convert any of those chances … Brendan Donovan was hitless in four at-bats to snap his career-high 14-game hitting streak … Nolan Gorman struck out three times and is 1-of-15 since returning from the injured list.
On the mound: Liberatore worked 6 2/3 innings, throwing 100 pitches, allowing six hits. Three of those hits came in the second inning, when the Mets scored their first two runs … Liberatore issued only his second walk of the season while striking out six … The final run scored on a long home run by Pete Alonso off John King in the eighth.
Key stat: The loss dropped the Cardinals to 1-8 on the road to begin the season, their worst road start to a season since they also were 1-8 in 1997.
Worth noting: This was the Cardinals’ seventh consecutive loss to the Mets, dating back to last year … This was only the third time in 21 games this season that Donovan did not get a hit … Masyn Winn hit two home runs while serving as the DH at Memphis on Saturday in the second game of his rehab assignment. Those were his only hits in five at-bats.
Up next: The Cardinals will send Sonny Gray to the mound on Easter Sunday to try to avoid being swept in the four-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. St. Louis time.
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