St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Bartolo Colon worked eight innings, and
Eric Young's RBI ground-rule double in the seventh inning was the difference,
as New York escaped St. Louis with a 3-2 victory in the finale of a three-game
set.
"Bartolo is a workhorse," remarked Young about the Mets' 41-year-old hurler.
"It's a testament to him, still able to do it at his age."
Colon (7-5) scattered four hits and one run and exited with a 3-1 advantage.
Jenrry Mejia entered and gave up a leadoff double to Matt Carpenter and
plunked Jon Jay. A Matt Holliday double-play grounder put the former in
scoring position, then Allen Craig bounced a single to third which scored
Carpenter and pulled the hosts within a run.
Dana Eveland put an end to the rally by retiring Matt Adams on grounder to
third, earning his first save of the season.
Young ended up with two hits and David Wright knocked in a run for the Mets,
who avoided a sweep.
Carpenter scored twice and drove in a run for the Cardinals, whose five-game
win streak came to a halt.
"Obviously sweeps are better than winning two-out-of-three," Carpenter said.
"But at the end of the day, we won another series, and if we can continue that
and win the rest of them, we'll be happy with how that works out."
Lance Lynn (7-5) tossed six innings in defeat, allowing five hits and two runs
while striking out five and walking four.
Carpenter's first-inning solo homer put the Cards on the board, and Lynn had
little trouble until the sixth.
His counterpart Colon smacked a leadoff double, then scored on Young's double
to tie the game at 1-1. Young moved up on a groundout and scored on a Wright
single, but the batter was thrown out at second. Curtis Granderson and Lucas
Duda drew walks but Lynn prevented further damage by fanning Young.
"I thought there was no way he was swinging. And he swung," Lynn said of
facing Colon. "That at-bat right there cost us the game. If I make a couple of
good pitches there to get him out, then who knows what that inning would
entail?"
New York picked up an insurance run in the seventh, as Wilmer Flores reached
thanks to a one-out single, moved up on Colon's sacrifice bunt and scored when
Young bounced a double into the seats in left.
Game Notes
Colon's double was his first extra-base hit in 123 career at-bats, and first
hit since 2005 ... Both clubs are in action on Thursday, as New York
continues its road trip in Miami, while the Cardinals continue their
residency by hosting the Phillies ... Following the contest, the Mets
recalled outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned
outfielder Matt den Dekker to Vegas.