Game #155: Cardinals 6, Mets 5

Just like last night, New York couldn't hold an early lead. This time, it was a one-man wrecking crew that did the trick.

David Freese picked up 5 RBIs himself, including the go-ahead 3-run homer in the 7th, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 win over the Mets.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Freese was a thorn in the Mets' side from the very beginning. His 2-run triple in the 1st opened up the scoring, and his 3-run homer off Pedro Beato in the 7th put St. Louis back in front to stay. Daniel Herrera picks up his first loss.
• New York couldn't do much to regain the lead over the Cardinals, save a Willie Harris solo homer in the 9th. The team had a good average with RISP (.333)...trouble is, they only got 3 at-bats with runners on second or third and stranded just 2 men. They did manage 5 runs, but 4 of them were unearned, coming as result of a Rafael Furcal error in the 3rd.
• We couldn't go through the last act of the season without some injury, right? Lucas Duda left with dizziness after crashing into the right field wall in the 1st inning.

The Good Stuff:

• Luckily for the team, Josh Satin did his best Duda impersonation in the 3rd, lacing a 2-run double to extend the inning and put the Mets up 4-3.
• Jose Reyes only went 1-4 with a double, but with an average now of .330 he's a fraction ahead of Ryan Braun for the batting title.
• Rookie starter Chris Schwinden was better than he's been, allowing 3 runs in 6 innings. He was in line for the win until Freese the wrecking ball blasted through the bullpen.
• Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect 9th and struck out a guy. His ERA is now down under 4 again.

Final Analysis:
And...there goes everything. With this loss, the Mets are guaranteed a losing season. And at 73-82, they've set a new low record for the season. The team has now lost 11 of 14, sandwiching a solid summer between two slices of lousy-bread. Now the best we can hope for is a 7-game run of awesomeness to drizzle over this spoiled sandwich.

On a lighter note, amazing things are happening in San Francisco: as of this post, the Giants are only 4 games back of the Braves in the Wild Card chase and lead the Dodgers 5-0 in the 4th. One of the big reasons they've come back from the dead is none other than Carlos Beltran, who's hitting .431 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 12 RBIs, and an other-worldly 1.248 OPS in his past 16 games. If the Giants do end up completing another amazing comeback and winning the Wild Card, they will have our former Met to thank. Nice going, Carlos. Good luck this last week.

MM