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Cardinals fall to the Mets in 10th inning, 6-5 loss

The Cardinals built an early 4-1 lead before the Mets came back to tie the game.
Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY SPORTS
Apr 24, 2018; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Luke Weaver (7) looks on after giving up a three run home run to New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium.

Game Report: Mets 6. Cardinals 5 (10 innings)

Jay Bruce earned a spot in the Busch Stadium record book Tuesday night with his home run in the 10th inning that gave the Mets the win over the Cardinals.

The homer, off Matt Bowman, was the 13th in Bruce’s career at Busch, tying Ryan Howard for the most homers in the history of the stadium by a visiting player. It was the first of those 13 to come in extra innings.

The Cardinals built an early 4-1 lead before the Mets came back to tie the game, first at 4-4 on a long home run by Yoenis Cespedes in the fifth and then at 5-5 in the eighth. Bruce had three hits in the game, including an RBI triple in the second inning.

The loss was just the second in their last 10 games for the Cardinals, who did not trail in a game for 37 consecutive innings until the 10th inning.

Here is how the game broke down:

At the plate: Tommy Pham returned to the Cardinals lineup and immediately made his presence known with a two-run homer in the first inning. Pham went 3-of-3 and also walked twice … Kolten Wong doubled in a run in the fourth and scored on a single by Luke Weaver to increase the lead to 4-1 … Weaver’s hit broke an 0-of-23 streak by Cardinals’ pitchers dating back to April 10 … Paul DeJong snapped the 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the fifth … The Cardinals put runners on first and second with nobody out in the ninth but Jose Martinez struck out and Marcell Ozuna grounded into a double play. Ozuna has just one hit in his last 23 at-bats.

On the mound: Luke Weaver struggled with his control, walking six, in 4 2/3 innings. He gave up just two hits, one of which was the three-run homer by Cespedes, which was estimated at 463 feet … Jordan Hicks allowed the first earned run in his career as the Mets rallied again to tie the game in the eighth. He walked two and has now walked 10 in his first 13 innings … Luke Gregerson got the final two outs in the eighth and Greg Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two … With Bud Norris unavailable because of a sore shoulder, Bowman pitched the 10th for the second time this season. He also gave up a run in the 10th against Milwaukee on April 10 but the Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the inning.

Key stat: Bruce’s homer was the first extra-inning home run for the Mets in St. Louis since Bobby Bonilla homered in the 10th off Rich DeLucia on July 19, 1995.

Worth noting: Pham’s homer was the first at home this season in the first inning by the Cardinals … Sam Tuivailala is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday night … Manager Mike Matheny said the team intends to promote Jack Flaherty to start on Saturday night in Pittsburgh … Prospect Ramon Urias, off to a great start at Double-A Springfield, was hit in the head by a pitch Tuesday night and likely is headed to the disabled list because of a possible concussion.

Looking ahead: Michael Wacha will get the start in the second game of the series on Wednesday night.

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