In a make-up game from a previously canceled contest, that can have ramifications to the National League Wild Card battle, the Mets traveled to St. Louis for a single game. They won the match-up 6-0 behind another strong start from Sean Manaea. This was the Mets pitching staff’s fourth shutout of the season.

Coming out of this game, the Mets are still out of the third Wild Card spot, trailing the Diamondbacks but within striking distance. With a lot of travel and no days off until next Monday 8/12, their ability to win tough games on the road in Colorado and Seattle will be critical to staying in the race.

In St. Louis, Manaea improved his record on the season to 8-4 and lowered his season ERA to 3.30. He went seven shutout innings, allowing six hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. Ryne Stanek followed Manaea, pitching a hitless eighth. Manager Carlos Mendoza left nothing to chance in the ninth, giving the ball to closer Edwin Díaz who had not appeared since last Tuesday. He retired the side in the ninth to get the Mets an important win after their series loss to the Angels.

The major pitching story remains Manaea. This was his second straight great start. Over those last two starts, Manaea has thrown 14 scoreless innings. He allowed only eight hits with one walk and 21 strikeouts. Manaea is making a very impactful case for the Ace title, which is important to the Mets in the absence of injured Kodai Senga.

At the plate, Mendoza went with a different lineup. Pete Alonso was moved down below the cleanup spot for the first time since 2020. He had one hit in three at-bats. Moving up in the order was Tyrone Taylor. From the two hole in the batting order, Taylor had one hit in four at-bats, with that hit being a bases-loaded double that drove in three runs. Jeff McNeil had two hits, including a solo homer, and Francisco Alvarez (moved down to eighth in the order) and former Cardinal Harrison Bader (one RBI) also had two hits each.

For the Cardinals, Nolan Arenado had a double. Other than that, St. Louis had five singles. Former Met Tommy Pham, who after he left called effectively called the Mets a lazy team that did not work hard, recently joined the Cardinals. While he has had a hot start to his tenure in St. Louis, in this game he had one hit in four at-bats and struck out twice.

Andre Pallante got the start for the Cardinals. Over 4.2 innings, he was charged with five runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The loss took his record to 4-6 with a season ERA of 4.43. Shawn Armstrong was up next, going 2.1 innings and getting charged with one run on two hits. Matthew Liberatore went the final two innings without surrendering any more runs.

Up Next

The Mets travel back out west, to Denver for a three-game series against the Rockies. The expected starters for the Mets are Luis Severino, Paul Blackburn, and David Peterson. The Rockies enter the series at 41-72. Their record is the second-worst in the majors, trailing the LA Dodgers by 24.5 games in the NL West.