ST. LOUIS, Mo. — In the run-up to the unusual event of cramming a one-off make-up game into an already jam-packed road trip for the Mets, the significance of the novelty was somewhat easy to forget.
Carlos Mendoza’s team entered the game 1.5 games back in the race for the final National League wild card spot, but the Cardinals will be hoping to hang on.
The Mets dealt a blow to their challenger hopes with one big inning, two small innings and another big start from Sean Manaea.
Manaea helped the Mets bounce back from a series loss in Anaheim with a 6-0 victory at Busch Stadium. Though it was technically only a one-game victory, the Mets looked fired up rather than tired.
The Mets were scheduled to leave California for Game 4 of a 10-game, 10-day trip covering more than 8,000 miles, spend a day in Missouri and then fly back west to Colorado.
There might have been some altercations on a muggy Midwest afternoon, but with Manaea on the mound these days, there has been very little discontent.
The left-hander pitched seven more shutout innings for the Mets (59-53), extending his streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings over his past two starts and performing at his best when it mattered.
Manaea wasn’t perfect on the day, allowing six hits, but he was perfect when the Cardinals (57-56) threatened. St. Louis batters went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but Manaea saved his 10 strikeouts for when they would come in handy.
Manaea struck out double-digit batters for the second straight game.
In the top of the third inning, the Cardinals had a runner on second with two outs and a 3-1 count when pitcher Willson Contreras hit a run.
Manaea responded with a sweeper on the outside corner and a 95.7 mph fastball, but Contreras swung and missed and Manaea hit his glove as he left the mound.
The trouble and the escapes continued: In the fourth inning, the Cardinals sent Pedro Page to second base again, but he swung and missed at a good sweeper and hurt his knee.
In the top of the fifth inning, Masin Win reached second base with two outs and Contreras threw to right-center field, where Tyrone Taylor dived against the wall to make a spectacular catch, performing another Houdini feat.
While there are many questions surrounding the Mets’ starting pitching — Senga Kodai is not expected to pitch at least until the regular season, Luis Severino’s velocity has dropped in his last outings and Jose Quintana was lackluster on Sunday — Manaea stepped up as a starter, striking out the final batter of the inning in the fifth inning to lower his ERA to 3.30.
Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz pitched a six-hit shutout and got more support than they needed from the offensive line.
The Mets’ first run came by chance: Jose Iglesias, filling in for the injured Mark Vientos, reached third base with two outs and spiked a wild pitch by Cardinals pitcher Andre Pallante to score the only run the Mets needed.
The rest of the runs were more deliberate. The Mets had an explosive fifth inning, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring four runs.
Harrison Bader, returning for St. Louis, hit an RBI double, and after Francisco Lindor walked to load the bases, Tyrone Taylor, promoted to second on a day when Pete Alonso batted fifth, smacked a double down the right field line to clear the bases and seal the game.
In the sixth inning, Jeff McNeil, still in good form, hit his 10th home run of the season, ensuring another victory.
A win would make the trip to Coors Field that much more enjoyable, considering the Mets didn’t want to play this make-up game in the middle of an already tough road trip.
