J.D. Martinez had a nice debut, but the Mets came up short.
The Mets opened their three-game series against the Cardinals with an uninspiring loss this evening, as the team fell to a team that had been struggling by a 4-2 score.
José Buttó had his worst major league start of the season thus far as he allowed four runs in five-and-two-thirds innings, all of them earned. He struck out four, walked three, and gave up a three-run home run to Alec Burleson in the second and a solo bomb to Willson Contreras in the third.
Tomás Nido put the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, and J.D. Martinez—who had a very good Mets debut—drove in the team’s second and final run of the night on a double that nearly cleared the orange line for a home run in the sixth.
Josh Walker, Jorge López, and Sean Reid-Foley combined for three-and-one-third scoreless innings in relief with a combined six strikeouts, one walk, and just one hit allowed. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter, as the Mets didn’t do much in the way of threatening to score.
The series continues tomorrow with a less-than-ideal pitching matchup: Adrian Houser vs. Sonny Gray.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Brandon Nimmo, +11.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: José Buttó, -22.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: -13.0% WPA
Mets hitters: -37.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: J.D. Martinez drives in a run with a double in the sixth, +9.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Alex Burleson hits a three-run home run in the second, -19.3% WPA