The struggles for shortstop Francisco Lindor continued today, this time not just with the bat. The Mets dropped the first of a doubleheader to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, at Busch Stadium.
Marcus Stroman gave up home runs to Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong in the loss for New York (11-13).
Lindor sailed a throw to Pete Alonso at first on a routine ground ball hit by Nolan Arenado which would have ended the fifth inning. DeJong continued to torture the Mets, this time by following with a two-run homer to give the Cardinals (18-12) added insurance runs for the win.
DeJong is now hitting .367 for his career against the Mets, with 10 home runs.
Stroman was one out away from escaping multiple jams, including the fifth inning. Before Lindor’s throwing error, Stroman had struck out the four previous Cardinal batters. He allowed seven hits and four runs through five innings of work, striking out six.
Lindor’s throwing error proved to be a body blow for the Mets in this game, but his hitting slump continues to worsen. The Mets were only able to scrape two hits together against St. Louis. Lindor went 0 for 3, his batting average is now down to .157.
The Cardinals reached Stroman early in the bottom of the first inning. Goldschmidt connected on a solo home run to left field, with 2 outs. The blast from the veteran first baseman almost broke the Big Mac Land sign. It was only the second home run Stroman has allowed this season.
Nolan Arenado reached Stroman for a 2-out RBI single to center, it was the third consecutive single by the Cardinals before Stroman escaped without further damage.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kwang-Hyun Kim, meanwhile found his groove early, retiring eight consecutive batters at one point. The Mets finally reached Kim in a long fourth inning after a leadoff walk to Michael Conforto and bloop single to shallow left by Kevin Pillar. Kim then walked Jeff McNeil to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, James McCann grounded into a fielder’s choice to third. However, the normally sure-handed Arenado dropped the ball while attempting a double play, this allowed Conforto to score New York’s only run.
Image: Francisco Lindor – Getty
