ICYMI: John Lackey lights-out as Mets top Cardinals in extras

Lackey, Harvey dazzle at Citi Field Monday

After Matt Harvey and John Lackey dazzled for eight and seven innings, respectively, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals did battle for 14 innings before John Mayberry lifted the NL-East leading Mets to a 2-1 win with an RBI single.

With Sam Tuivailala on the hill for St. Louis, Eric Campbell and Lucas Duda drew back-to-back walks to open the bottom of the 14th, prompting a pitching change in favor of Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, who induced a groundball out off the bat of Michael Cuddyer, allowing Campbell to move to third on the play.

With men on the corners, Rosenthal issued an intentional walk to Daniel Murphy, setting up the force out at any base with just one out and bringing up the pinch-hitter, Mayberry. The veteran took the first pitch and lined it hard to Jhonny Peralta, whose throw home was late, giving New York the win.

Lackey, who was visibly upset when Mike Matheny pulled him for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh, allowed just three hits and one run, striking out six. The gritty veteran did not walk a single batter on the night.

His counterpart, the Dark Knight himself, Matt Harvey, was his usual self, turning in eight shutout innings of six-hit ball, striking out nine and walking one, despite not factoring into the decision. The Mets bullpen combined to allow just three hits in six innings of work.

New York (23-16) initially took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Duda singled, scoring Curtis Granderson and making it 1-0 Mets. The home team held the lead until the top of the ninth when Juerys Familia blew his first save of the season, allowing the Cardinals to tie things up on a Jason Heyward sac fly.

For St. Louis (25-13), the offense was paced by Yadier Molina, who went 3-for-5 with a walk, as well as the recently-struggling Matt Adams adding two hits himself. However, as a team, the Cardinals were a dismal 0-for-11.