Pinch-hitter Dominic Smith on Monday hustled for an infield single that drove in two pivotal runs, and the New York Mets capitalized on an uncharacteristic error by Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado to rally for five unearned runs with two outs in the ninth inning of a 5-2 victory over the Saint Louis Cardinals.
After the hit by Smith gave New York the lead, Brandon Nimmo capped the outburst with a two-run homer.
“It was worth the wait,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “It really was. It was fun to watch.”
Photo: AP
Max Scherzer struck out 10 hitters over seven innings of two-hit ball in a scoreless duel with Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas.
A two-run single by Tyler O’Neill off Trevor May (1-0) put Saint Louis ahead in the eighth.
New York was down to its final strike when Mark Canha hit a grounder to third. Arenado fielded the ball cleanly behind the bag, but took his time making an off-balance throw to first.
The ball sailed high for an error that allowed Eduardo Escobar to score from second, making it 2-1. Canha was credited with an infield single.
Jeff McNeil doubled, sending pinch-runner Travis Jankowski to third, while Smith hit a sharp one-hopper that was snagged by sprawling first baseman Paul Goldschmidt behind the bag.
However, closer Giovanny Gallegos (0-1) was late covering first, and Smith beat him to the bag with a headfirst dive.
“You try to hustle as hard as you can to beat him. I saw the closer didn’t get over right away,” Smith said. “I just ran as hard as I could. I knew I had a step on him. I felt slow, but I tried to run hard.”
McNeil never stopped coming around third and slid in safely at the plate ahead of Gallegos’ throw, giving the fired-up Mets a 3-2 lead.
However, Gallegos’ gaffe proved costly for Saint Louis.
“It’s pretty simple. We’re going to make physical mistakes. That’s a mental mistake there,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “You can’t excuse it. He knows it. We know it. He’s got to cover first.”
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 0
‧ Giants 4, Brewers 2
‧ Angels 3, Guardians 0
‧ Phillies 8, Rockies 2
‧ Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 2
‧ Rangers 6, Astros 2
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