Monday’s Game Report: Mets 4, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals’ decision to begin the season with Ivan Herrera hitting second and Masyn Winn fourth in the lineup hasn’t produced the results the team had hoped for.
Herrera had one hit in four at-bats on Monday night while Winn was hitless in three at-bats, with a walk, as the Cardinals lost the opener of a three-game series against the Mets at Busch Stadium.
In the first four games of the season, the two have combined for five hits in 34 at-bats.
They were not the only hitters who struggled on Monday night, as the Mets limited the Cardinals to just five hits, with only two hits – one a home run from Nolan Gorman – coming after the third inning.
The Mets got the win despite getting only one hit in 14 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Alec Burleson’s single in the first inning drove in JJ Wetherholt, who had reached on a leadoff walk … Jordan Walker led off two innings with a single and walk but each time was erased on groundouts … Burleson doubled with two outs in the third, followed by a walk to Winn, but Gorman grounded out to end the inning … Gorman hit his second homer of the season in the sixth … The Cardinals struck out nine times, three by Victor Scott II.
On the mound: Kyle Leahy was charged with all four runs, but one of them came after he left the game in the fifth when Matt Svanson allowed the inherited runner to score. Leahy allowed eight hits, walked two and only recorded one strikeout … Svanson worked two innings, striking out three … George Soriano also worked two scoreless innings, pitching around a double and an intentional walk to Juan Soto in the eighth.
Key stat: Gorman has an RBI in each of the first four games of the season. It’s tied for the longest streak to begin a season since Allen Craig drove in a run in the first five games of the 2012 season. The team record is seven games by Keith Hernandez in 1981.
Worth noting: The Cardinals have lost 10 of their last 12 games against the Mets … All 10 of the Cardinals starters, including Leahy, were drafted and developed by the Cardinals or signed as an international free agent (Herrera) … Hunter Dobbins, who is beginning the year on the injured list, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday night in Memphis. He is recovering from a torn ACL suffered last summer when he was pitching for the Red Sox.
Up next: Andre Pallante will make his first start of the season on Tuesday night in the second game of the series.
Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains
