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Cardinals Overcome Cespedes HR, Rally Past Mets

Yadier Molina and pinch-hitter Kolten Wong each stroked an RBI double in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped Familia's string of 52 straight saves in rallying to beat the New York Mets 5-4 on Wednesday night.

 

Yoenis Cespedes hit a go-ahead homer off Adam Wainwright to cap a three-run comeback in the seventh that gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. But then Familia, who hadn't blown a regular-season save opportunity since July 30 last year, finally faltered.

 

Jedd Gyorko drew a four-pitch walk with one out in the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Randal Grichuk. Molina hit the next pitch to deep center field, and Grichuk scored standing up to tie it.

 

Molina was thrown out at third by Familia (2-2) on pinch-hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker's comebacker, but Hazelbaker stole second and scored when Wong lined a double just inside the left-field line.

Familia's franchise-record saves streak was the third-longest in major league history behind Tom Gordon (54) and Eric Gagne (84).

 

Logan Verrett pitched seven efficient innings and slumping Neil Walker went 3 for 3 with a base on balls for the third-place Mets, who dropped 5 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Washington.Matt Holliday hit a two-run double off Verrett with two outs in the third, and Matt Adams followed with an RBI double that made it 3-1.

 

Wainwright, who entered 3-0 in July with a major league-low 0.93 ERA, nursed that lead until the seventh - repeatedly pitching out of trouble. He nearly did so again after striking out Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera with runners at the corners.

 

But then Travis d'Arnaud scored on a wild pitch and Cespedes, who fouled off three full-count offerings, socked a two-run homer off the facing of the second deck in left-center.

 

Jonathan Broxton (3-2) tossed a scoreless eighth and Seung Hwan Oh got three quick outs for his sixth save.

 

Including a split of Tuesday's doubleheader, St. Louis took two of three from the Mets in a matchup of NL wild-card contenders.

 

Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.37 ERA) starts Thursday night in Miami against RHP Jose Fernandez (12-4, 2.54), who is 26-1 with a 1.47 ERA at Marlins Park.

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