The game started off with Pete Alonso making a challenging play in foul territory, battling the sun and the turf to make the out. Alonso stated earlier in the spring that he plans to eventually walk away with a gold glove, as the slugger is known to have a hard worker’s ethic.
After the Cardinals put runners on first and third, Dylan Carlson hit a monster of shot over the left field wall. The outfielder, currently in his sophomore season, would give his Cardinals the 3-0 lead.
The bottom half of the second started off with an amazing interview with Mets manager Buck Showalter. It’s evident that the organization now has a leader to call the shots and make that tough call when need be, coming from what seems to be an extremely entertaining personality.
After a lead off walk from Alonso, then a single by Cahna, putting runners on first and third. James McCann would push an RBI single in the hole between second and first, an approach that McCann plans to make his way back to.
Paul Goldschmidt then lead the third inning off, drilling a shot over the left-center field gate. The home run, Goldschmidt’s first of the spring, gave the Card’s a 4-1 lead over the Mets.
Travis Jankowski, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania native and Stony Brook alumni, made a case to be the team’s fifth outfielder, as he made a stellar diving catch in the top of the fourth.
Francisco Lindor started off a phenomenal 6-4-5 double play with a backhanded stop in the hole, McNeil had the wherewithal to go to third for the second out of the play.
Megill also did an in-dugout interview after pitching three scoreless frames. The right-hander told Steve Gelbs that he is working on the command of his slider, his new cutter, as well as his curveball.
Megill spoke about adding a new pitch to his arsenal, “I definitely wanted to add another weapon… I wanted something hard and something that goes into lefties, so they can respect the four-seam.”
Miguel Castro threw a scoreless 7th as the right-hander’s stuff was looking electric. His fastball was getting up to around 98MPH, and a ton of movement on all of his pitches.
Daniel Palka, a 30 year old outfielder/ first baseman acquired from the White Sox, hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead down to 4-3. Palka has approximately two seasons under his belt, and will likely be in Syracuse for most of the year.
Sean Reid-Foley gave up a couple of runs in the 8th, while I really like this right-hander, it looks like he’ll he starting 2022 in Syracuse.
Mets former second round pick and third base prospect Mark Vientos singled in a run in his only at-bat in the 8th inning, shaving the Cardinals lead down to 5-4.
The Mets gave up another run in the top part of the 9th, and would eventually drop the exhibition contest to the Cardinals, their second loss of the Spring.
The 2-0 Miami Marlins will host tomorrow’s exhibition game against the Mets as Max Scherzer is set to take the hill. Unfortunately, the game will not be televised.
Photo Credit: Anthony DiComo
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