Paul DeJong has turned into the modern-day New York Mets killer and flexed his muscle again in the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 win. DeJong’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning put the game away as the Mets were once again incapable of doing anything on offense.
A tough week just became tougher for Francisco Lindor, who committed a throwing error on a routine grounder that would have ended the fifth inning.
Certified Met Killer® Paul DeJong follows with a two-run homer.
Cardinals 4, Mets 1, bottom five.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 5, 2021
Francisco Lindor has done nothing to help the Mets offense and figured he might as well help out someone else’s. His throwing error prevented the fifth inning from ending and allowed DeJong to torch the Mets again. Lindor went hitless again to push his slump to 24 straight at-bats without a hit. Despite, the slump manager Luis Rojas rolled out another one of his bright ideas and batted him leadoff.
Stroman’s Outing
Marcus Stroman pitched much better than his line suggests. He went five innings, allowed four runs (two earned) while striking out six. In a pivotal fourth inning, a leadoff error followed by a single put Stroman in a first and third situation. Stroman responded by striking out the next three batters he faced, but it did not come without drama.
Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner visited the mound after the first strikeout, but Stroman wanted nothing to do with him. Stroman walked off the mound in the middle of the visit and said, “just let me f–king pitch man.” Even though he survived the inning, Stroman and Rojas spoke in the tunnel when he came off the field. Rojas let Stroman hit in the fifth inning despite being down by one in a seven-inning game in an even more surprising move.
The Mets had the same amount of errors as hits in what might have been a tribute to fired hitting coach Chili Davis. They went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and went the final three innings without a hit. Lindor will get the second game off as Jonathan Villar will take his place at shortstop. It would fit the Mets logic to have their best offensive output in the game Lindor does not play in. Miguel Castro will face Johan Oviedo in game 2.