Mets cruise past Cardinals with Sean Manaea's terrific start, new-look lineup
Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in St. Louis. Credit: AP/Scott Kane
ST. LOUIS — There are dog days and there are slog days, and the Mets came into Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon mired in the slog.
They had just dropped a series against the Angels, were in St. Louis for just a single day before heading off to Colorado as part of this brutal 10-game western road trip, and were 1 1⁄2 games out of the third wild-card spot.
But on a 94-degree August day and up against a team also vying for that last spot, Carlos Mendoza decided to do something to fight against the threat of stagnation, and it set up the Mets for a 6-0 win over the Cardinals.
After seeing his lineup continue to sputter with runners in scoring position, Mendoza majorly revamped his batting order Monday. Pete Alonso moved from the cleanup spot to the five-hole, Tyrone Taylor started at No. 2 for only the seventh time in his career, Brandon Nimmo moved down to third and J.D. Martinez took over Alonso’s spot batting fourth.
The result? Taylor hit a three-run double in a four-run fifth. Harrison Bader went 2-for-4 with two doubles, Jeff McNeil was 2-for-4 with a homer and Sean Manaea weaved his second gem in a row, striking out 10 in seven innings.
“Mendy looks like a genius in that,” Bader said of moving Taylor up. “It worked out great because we won.”
A lot of that had to do with the lefty on the mound, too. Manaea (8-4, 3.30 ERA) allowed six hits and no walks. It’s the second start in a row in which he’s gone seven scoreless innings, and he has 21 strikeouts in that span.
“Impressive,” Mendoza said. “Now back to back, the way he dominated a pretty good lineup there, complete control of the game. The fastball, the sweeper, he’s attacking hitters, getting ahead, putting them away, making pitches when we need . . . I think he found a rhythm here where every pitch is working for him.’’
The Mets scored their first run against a wild Andre Pallante in the second as Alonso walked, made his way to third on a single and a forceout, and came home on a wild pitch.
The Cardinals put two runners on with two outs in the third and fourth innings, but Manaea overpowered them both times.
With runners on first and second in the third, he struck out Willson Contreras swinging on a high fastball well out of the zone. With runners on first and second in the fourth, he got Pedro Pages swinging on a nasty 75-mph sweeper with 48 inches of vertical break.
Then the Mets made the Cardinals pay for every missed opportunity in the fifth.
With one out, McNeil and Francisco Alvarez hit back-to-back singles and former Cardinal Bader — who tipped his hat to an adoring crowd before his first at-bat — lined a double into the leftfield corner to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Francisco Lindor walked to bring up Taylor, who laced a three-run double into the rightfield corner.
“We went out and battled,” Taylor said. “I knew I had Nimmo hitting behind me, a really good hitter, so I was really trying to put the ball in the air.”
McNeil added his solo shot in the sixth off reliever Shawn Armstrong, hitting a 357-foot line drive to right that made it 6-0. It was his 10th homer and fifth in 17 games.
Alonso, who went 1-for-3, took no issue with the lineup change, which Mendoza said was partially due to the righthanded Pallante having reverse splits. He and Alonso discussed it both on the flight here and in Mendoza’s office Monday.
“I want to win and I trust him to put out the best lineup every single day, and if that’s what he thinks is going to help us win, then I’m all for it,” Alonso said.
He added that he isn’t overly concerned about his production. He has 23 homers and 59 RBIs but came into the day in a situational hitting funk, batting .198 with runners in scoring position this year.
“I’m in a position where I’m on pace for close to 40 homers, I’m an All-Star, or I was an All-Star this year, so I think to beat myself up or be frustrated is really no use and I’m really excited for the end of the year where we get to play winning baseball,” said Alonso, who’s also in a contract year.
“I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished this year and I think there’s definitely going to be some opportunities that I’m looking forward to capitalizing on.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
