METS CRANK FOUR HOMERS, 18 RUNS IN ROUT OF CARDINALS
Eternal Baseball
NEW YORK — It was billed as a “Matchup for the Ages” as the Mets sent ace Tom Seaver to the mound to face St. Louis’ alpha pitcher Bob Gibson. In the end, the starring role went to New York second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, who had just one regret:
“Man, I really wanted that ball back.”
The Mets took advantage of a brutal start from Bob Gibson, en route to an 18-8 clubbing of the visiting Cardinals. Gibson had lost most of a 5-0 lead by the time Alfonzo bashed a no-doubt 393-foot three-run homer to center field to give the Mets a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Jose Reyes followed with a sharp single to centerfield, and Bob Gibson left having recorded one less out (one) than homers (two, the other by Pete Alonso).
The Mets pinch hit for the erratic Seaver in the bottom of the first inning (double switching Kevin McReynolds in for Michael Conforto), and David Cone started the second. St. Louis pounced on the Mets’ long reliever, as Stan Musial cracked a two-run homer and Johnny Mize singled in Chick Hafey. St. Louis reclaimed the lead at 8-6 and looked to John Tudor to right the ship.
The Mets offense continued to roll in the second inning – as they lined up five hits (around a strikeout looking by Carlos Beltran – which drew loud boos from the Mets crowd) to score four runs and chase John Tudor from the game. Max Lanier salvaged the inning for St. Louis with two quick outs, but not before the Mets climbed back into the lead 10-8.
While the Mets bullpen strolled along following David Cone’s shaky performance (2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 K), St. Louis ran into trouble again when Dizzy Dean relieved Max Lanier. After Dean pitched a scoreless fifth inning, he served up a 351-foot line drive home run to Mike Piazza leading off the sixth. Following a single from Carlos Beltran, Edgardo Alfonzo was hit by an errant curveball, setting up Kevin McReynolds 3-run home run over the wall in right/center field. That blast ended Dean’s day, and Mort Cooper recorded the final out to close the sixth inning with the Mets leading 14-8.
Trouble hung around for the seventh inning, as Mort Cooper surrendered a two-run double to David Wright and a two-run single to McReynolds to push the score to 18-8. The Mets would hold on from there, behind strong relief efforts from Jesse Orosco, Jon Matlack, Armando Benitez, and Randy Myers. Those four combined to throw five and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief and send the Mets a victory on the first day of Spring Training.
Rough though his day was, David Cone (1-0) earned the win for the Mets, while John Tudor (0-1) was saddled with the loss for St. Louis. Mets second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo had an incredible night – with three hits in three at-bats, including a three-run homer, a two-run double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, three runs and five RBI. Mike Piazza and Kevin McReynolds each homered and drove in five as well, and Pete Alonso also smacked a solo homer. St. Louis got home runs from Albert Pujols, Al Simmons and Stan Musial but it wasn’t enough to hold off the New York onslaught.
Tuesday night brings game two of this pre-season opening series. The heavy bullpen usage from Game 1 shouldn’t affect tomorrow listed starters as St. Louis tabs right-hander Adam Wainwright to square off with New York’s Dwight Gooden. First pitch from Citi Field is at 7:05 PM EST.
Photo credit: Citi Field by Cathy T
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