It took 5 hours, 55 minutes for the Mets to top the National League Central-leading Cardinals and avoid a three-game sweep.
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The Mets were just as listless, hitless in 15 at-bats with a runner in scoring position until the 13th inning. But could they look to shore up the back end of the rotation before the July 31 deadline?
Ruben Tejada hit a sacrifice fly in the 18th inning and Mets outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Sunday in the second-longest game this season.
With the Los Angeles Angels rained out against the Boston Red Sox, the Houston Astros moved to within one game of the AL West summit with a 10-0 rout of the Texas Rangers in which Dallas Keuchel struck out 13 in seven innings.
The Mets and Cardinals have combined for lengthy affairs before, having played a 20-inning game here in 2010.
“Weird stat”, Campbell said.
New York loaded the bases in the 18th on singles by Wilmer Flores and Curtis Granderson followed by a sacrifice from Plawecki that Martinez didn’t cleanly handle. The insurance run scored on a suicide squeeze with Eric Campbell at the plate.
The Mets have homered in 6 consecutive games, scoring 17 of their 19 runs via the long ball.
Clinton scored a run in three of the final four innings but a LumberKings fielding error with the bases loaded in the eighth allowed Beloit’s decisive run.
Sale (8-5) allowed four runs and a season-high 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old has pitched well in his last three outings, permitting six earned runs in 16 2/3 innings.
Josh Reddick hit a grand slam, highlighting an Oakland display of power that featured five home runs in a 14-1 win over Minnesota. “Obviously it’s hot- that’s nothing new to me- but it’s tough to stay hydrated when you’re not feeling well”, he said, adding he got IV fluids after the game. “We were out of players, out of pitching, and they just kept battling against a very, very good club”.
Collins said he was concerned about Michael Cuddyer because the left fielder was forced to exit the game after experiencing discomfort in his knee after running the bases in the eighth inning. The futile hitting with runners in scoring position was the majors’ worst since at least 1974. The game was scoreless until both teams got a run in the 13th. “We aren’t happy about that”.
For most of the game, it seemed like neither team was going to score. “I’ve never seen more flying helmets in my life than going down that runway”, referring to his players lashing out in frustration in the clubhouse.
While Grichuk was drawing fireworks, Heyward continued to batter the Mets as well, picking up five hits and three RBI while raising his average to.288. Gilmartin even collected his first major league hit to lead off the sixteenth inning. In the top of the 13th, he came up clutch with an RBI single to right field to score Granderson from second to give the Mets the lead. The Cardinals then rallied with a single and double, but Familia struck out Tommy Pham to strand the winning run at third base. It also wasn’t the longest game between the Cardinals and Mets in the past six seasons.
Gathering urgency with each passing extra inning, Matheny went several places he didn’t intend Sunday and his only return was a loss lousy with repercussions.
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Matheny said he didn’t have any concerns about the long-term impact of the cramps, adding Heyward may have been a victim of his own success Saturday night.
