St. Louis Cardinals: Good, Bad and Ugly in Mets series

The drama was real in a three-game series between the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Tempers flared and the dramatics were high as the St. Louis Cardinals were able to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Mets.

Monday – Cardinals 2, Mets 5

A terrific outing from Miles Mikolas was seemingly ruined by some serious errors.

Mikolas pitched seven innings, giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out five. He looked strong and effective on the mound, keeping hitters off-balance with his mix of pitches. It was great to see him have such a dominant performance.

The Cardinals even got a great eighth inning from Genesis Cabrera. He got one strikeout.

The Cardinals got their two runs in the eighth inning. Tyler O’Neill knocked a single to left field scoring Brendan Donovan and Harrison Bader.

The Cardinals took that to the final out of the game when things kind of imploded for the Cards. In fact, it was so ugly, that you’ll want to pay attention to the bad section of this reading.

Tuesday – Cardinals 0, Mets 3

Jordan Hicks looked good through two innings, but couldn’t make it through the third inning after giving up two walks, two hits and two earned runs. He was able to strike out one.

Hicks was removed from the game in the third inning with a right wrist contusion. An x-ray performed showed negative results.

Andre Pallante pitched three innings, giving up three hits and striking out one. Nick Wittgren pitched two-thirds of an inning, walking one and striking out one. Packy Naughton pitched 1.1 innings, giving up one hit.

With the exception of throwing at the head of Pete Alonso, Kodi Whitley had an uneventful inning of work. Aaron Brooks pitched the final inning, giving up two hits, a walk, and one earned run while striking out one.

Cardinals hitters were 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. They left eight runners on base. Tommy Edman had two stolen bases in the game.

Mets starter Chris Bassitt earned his third win of the season and is now 3-1. He pitched six innings, giving up three walks, and two hits while striking out six. He caused a bit of a stir with these comments regarding the baseballs being used this season.

Mikolas came back at Bassitt’s remarks saying he’d not experienced the same results, but wanted to remind the pitcher that it is not the baseball’s fault.

According to reporting from Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, Bassitt possibly didn’t have enough sweat to mix with rosin. “If you’re not comfortable with a ball, don’t throw it. If you toss back 10 in a row, maybe that sends a message.” Mikolas also theorized that perhaps pitchers — not Bassitt, pitchers in general — were reliant on sticky stuff for so long that the art of rubbing up a baseball has gone by the wayside.

Mikolas’ comments make sense but could ultimately stir contempt from some pitchers that could take offense.

Wednesday, Cardinals 10, Mets 5

The Cardinals, thankfully, avoided the sweep on Wednesday afternoon. Steven Matz had a terrible second inning of work but settled down and the offense powered up to help the Cardinals take the final game of the series.

Matz threw four innings, giving up six hits, two walks and four earned runs all in the second inning. He was able to strike out six batters. Jake Woodford ultimately earned the win after going two innings, giving up three hits and one run, while striking out two. Genesis Cabrera pitched two innings and gave up only two hits. Ryan Helsley pitched the final inning, striking out one.

Several aspects of Wednesday’s game will be both discussed in the Good and Ugly sections.

Now, let’s discuss the good, bad, and ugly of this series with the Mets.

The Bad

Giovanny Gallegos earned his first loss and blown save in the Cardinals’ 5-2 loss Monday.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, everything looked great for the Cardinals to get a signature win over the Mets. But this is April baseball.

Mark Canha singled to third base. An out-of-the-ordinary throwing error from Nolan Arenado allowed Eduardo Escobar to score. Dominic Smith singled to first base. Gallegos didn’t react in time to help cover first base, allowing Travis Jankowski and Jeff McNeil to score and the Mets took a 3-2 lead.

T.J. McFarland came into the game to relieve Gallegos.

On the first pitch, Brandon Nimmo launched his third home run of the season to right field. Smith scored on the homer.

It was a really disappointing loss for the Cardinals.

The Ugly

Tempers reached a fever pitch Wednesday afternoon’s finale of the Cards series with the Mets.

Mets pitcher Yoan Lopez was on the mound in the eighth inning with Nolan Arenado coming to bat. Lopez proceeded to throw a pitch high and in, appearing to buzz the hitter. Arenado took exception to the pitch and began chirping at Lopez, telling him to bring it on.

Arenado shoved Mets catcher Tomas Nido aside and charged the mound. With the exception of some shoving, Arenado’s frustration remained verbal.

First-base coach Stubby Clapp is observed tackling back Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso. Clapp is essentially trying to keep Alonso from attacking other players. Alonso’s response was interesting. According to Bally Sports – Midwest, “Pete Alonso on today’s Mets-Cardinals brawl: “It just didn’t make sense. The ball wasn’t even close. It’s something that started for no reason.” On being tackled by Stubby Clapp: “If you want to hold me back, you want to restrain me, go at me like a man.”

Arenado told reporters after the game, according to Bally Sports – Midwest,  “I just didn’t like where it was at. I figured it was coming. It is what it is.”

Manager Oli Marmol’s reaction to the eighth inning shenanigans was pretty great.

Marmol’s intense anger over the fight was awesome to see. He definitely has his team’s back and won’t tolerate anyone going after his club.

The Cardinals take this high into a four-game series this weekend at Busch against the Arizona Diamondbacks.