The Sports Xchange
Jul 7, 2017
ST. LOUIS -- Jacob deGrom survived a home run barrage by the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night and won his fifth straight start as the New York Mets posted a 6-5 victory.
Working seven innings, deGrom (9-3) gave up eight hits and four runs -- all on solo homers. He walked none and struck out five in winning for the first time in three career starts at Busch Stadium.
National League All-Star Carlos Martinez (6-8) gave up five runs in five innings for the second straight start. Martinez allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out four.
Jay Bruce went 3-for-5 with a double and homer for New York (39-45), while T.J. Rivera drove in two runs. His seventh-inning double plated Asdrubal Cabrera, who reached on an error by second baseman Matt Carpenter, with what turned out to be the winning run.
St. Louis (41-45) pulled within a run in the eighth on Jedd Gyorko's sacrifice fly, but closer Addison Reed quickly mowed it down in the ninth to earn his 15th save in 17 chances.
Rivera started the night's scoring the hard way, getting plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning to put New York on the board.
Jose Reyes led off the second with his eighth homer to double the advantage, but St. Louis responded with back-to-back homers in the third. Randal Grichuk clubbed a 419-foot shot to left-center and Paul DeJong cracked a 418-foot drive to the seats in right-center.
New York regained a two-run lead in the fourth as Travis d'Arnaud singled home Reyes, followed by an RBI double on a 3-0 pitch by Curtis Granderson. But the Cardinals equalized again, and did so again with the long ball. Dexter Fowler belted his 14th and Gyorko followed with his 13th to tie the score at 4.
The Mets grabbed a 5-4 edge in the fifth inning when Bruce whacked his 22nd homer to right-center.
NOTES: St. Louis activated CF Dexter Fowler (right heel spur) from the 10-day DL and optioned OF Jose Martinez to Triple-A Memphis. Fowler, who missed 12 games with the injury, batted third and went 1-for-4. ... New York OF Michael Conforto (bruised left hand) went 3-for-4 Thursday night in a rehab game for Single-A St. Lucie against Charlotte. Conforto, the Mets' only representative for Tuesday night's All-Star Game, could be activated Saturday. ... The Cardinals sent LHP Kevin Siegrist (cervical spine strain) to Double-A Springfield Friday to start a rehab assignment. Siegrist has been on the 10-day DL since June 25, retroactive to June 23.