New York Jets

ST LOUIS, MO - APRIL 25: Jeff McNeil #1 of the New York Mets reacts after scoring the go ahead run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on April 25, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)

METS 5 – CARDINALS 2

In his postgame press conference Mets Manager Buck Schowalter said of Max Scherzer’s outing against the St. Louis Cardinals as “fun to watch.” It sure was, in fact, the game wasn’t half bad either.

Scherzer dominated the Cardinals over seven shutout innings, striking out 10 batters, and giving up only two hits. At 101 pitches it felt like he could keep going as the Mets and Cards were deadlocked at zero. Instead, the Mets went to the pen in the bottom of the eight inning with struggling reliever Trevor May getting the ball first. Big mistake. May gave up a pair of runs on a two-run single by Tyler O’Neil. Just like that it was 2-0 Cardinals, and it appeared the Mets had wasted a tremendous start by Scherzer.

But these Mets feel a little different. In the top of the ninth, New York rallied for five runs to shock the Cardinals. All of those runs came with two out in the inning.

First Matt Canha reached on an infield single and Eduardo Escobar scored when the throw by Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado threw the ball away to make it a 2-1 game. After Jeff McNeil doubled, Dom Smith hit a liner down the first baseline that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt couldn’t field. As Goldschmidt finally recovered and tried to step on the bag, Smith dove for the first base bag and reached it safely. At the same time, Travis Jankowski and McNeil both came in to score as Goldschmidt’s throw was late. Just like that the Mets led 3-2.

After the Cardinals went back to their bullpen, Brandon Nimmo laced a home run to right that wrapped around the foul poll giving the Mets a thrilling 5-2 lead and victory.

The win pushes the Mets to 13-5 on the season, the most wins in baseball. There is something quiet special about this New York Mets team. They have the feel of a team en route to a specials season.

Meanwhile, the Mets got a bit of good news on starter Jacob deGrom. deGrom, who hasn’t pitched this season after suffering a stress reaction in his right shoulder, is said to be seeing “considerable healing” in that shoulder. The Mets will reevaluate him in three weeks. Currently there is no timetable for deGrom’s return.