NEW YORK (AP) – The game between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets was suspended because of rain Thursday night, moments after Harrison Bader hit an
RBI double with two outs in the top of the ninth inning that made it 4-all.
Play will resume Friday at 5:10 p.m. beginning in the bottom of the ninth. That
will be followed by the regularly scheduled game between the teams.
St. Louis scored twice in the ninth off closer Edwin Diaz to tie it, capping a
bizarre sequence that saw umpires reverse their call and order the tarp off the
field right after it had been rolled out.
Rain was falling hard when New York took the field for the ninth with a 4-2
lead, and umps ordered the field covered. As the tarp got spread, rookie first
baseman Pete Alonso and several other Mets pleaded their case to play on.
After the umps and both managers met in the middle of the diamond, the call was
overturned _ no review of the weather map needed. The grounds crew finished
working on the field and action resumed after a nine-minute wait.
Kolten Wong hit an RBI single off the left field wall with two outs against
Diaz, then scored when Bader doubled into the corner. Wong managed to keep his
footing on the soaked dirt as he rounded third, helped when shortstop Amed
Rosario had trouble handling the wet ball on a weak relay.
Bader was thrown out after he slipped and fell between second and third. The
field was covered after that, and the suspension was announced 50 minutes later.
The Mets top the majors with 15 blown saves, including three by Diaz in 17
tries.
New York starter Jacob deGrom pitched seven efficient innings. And a little
fit, too.
Bader doubled in the St. Louis third, stole third and scored with two outs when
Matt Carpenter hit an easy grounder to an empty spot on the left side of the
infield.
When the inning ended, deGrom slammed his glove to the floor in the dugout. Not
done, the NL Cy Young Award winner picked up his mitt and zinged it off the
wall, ricocheting around a Mets trainer sitting nearby.
Michael Conforto connected for a two-run homer off Jack Flaherty, the Mets’
team-record 17th straight home game with a long ball. Paul DeJong went deep for
St. Louis.
BADER’S BACKERS
This was the first big league game in New York for Bader, who grew up in nearby
Bronxville. His mom, dad and 150 people from his high school came out to root
for him, and he rewarded them with two doubles, a single, two steals and a nifty
catch on Rosario’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
TRUE BLUES
The Cardinals joined in the celebration for the St. Louis Blues winning their
first Stanley Cup, cheering in the visitors’ clubhouse at Miami after a 9-0 loss
Wednesday night. The Cards watched most of the third period as the Blues beat
Boston 4-1 in Game 7, the hockey game ending shortly before they boarded the bus
to the airport.
“We counted it down and the `Let’s go, Blues!’ chants started,” manager Mike
Shildt said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley (shoulder impingement) was put on the 10-day
injured list and rookie lefty Genesis Cabrera was recalled from Triple-A
Memphis.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: In the regularly scheduled game, RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-0, 1.80
ERA) starts in place of injured Adam Wainwright (hamstring).
Mets: LHP Steven Matz (5-4, 3.88) is 0-3 with an 8.49 ERA in three career
starts vs. St. Louis. Overall, the Mets have won the last seven times Matz has
started at Citi Field.
Again, the completion of the suspended game begins at 5:10 with the pre-game at
4:15 on KTLO-AM. The regularly scheduled game will begin 30 minutes after the
first game ends.
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