Mayberry comes through in 14th to lead Mets past Cardinals

[May 19, 2015]  NEW YORK -- John Mayberry sat at his locker in the New York Mets' clubhouse late Monday night and carefully examined his newest possession: The championship boxing belt awarded to the Mets player most responsible for the team's most recent victory.

Asked if he might take it home with him, Mayberry nodded.

"I might, yeah," Mayberry said. "There's no reason not to, huh? Pretty nifty."

Mayberry finally notched a memento in a trying season Monday, when his pinch-hit infield single in the bottom of the 14th inning scored third baseman Eric Campbell with the winning run in the Mets' marathon 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.

The hit was just the fifth in 36 at-bats for Mayberry, who has started only eight of the Mets' 39 games. It was also his first hit in 10 pinch-hitting appearances.

"Sometimes it's a lucky hit or two that can turn the course of things around for you," Mayberry said. "I feel like I've hit some balls well that haven't found holes or fell for me. This was a lucky one that I'll definitely try to use as momentum."

The Mets didn't get a runner into scoring position in extra innings until the 14th, when Campbell and first baseman Lucas Duda drew walks opening the inning against right-hander Sam Tuivailala (0-1), who was pulled for right-hander Trevor Rosenthal.

A grounder to short by left fielder Michael Cuddyer forced Duda, after which second baseman Daniel Murphy was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Mayberry, the final non-catcher on the Mets' bench, was sent up to pinch-hit for right-hander Carlos Torres (2-0). Mayberry hit the first pitch he saw to shortstop, where a drawn-in Jhonny Peralta made a diving stop. But Campbell slid home well ahead of the throw to end a game that lasted 4 hours, 14 minutes.

"When you go 14 innings, you'd like to leave here with a smile on your face," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

The Mets (23-16) celebrated their third straight victory by mobbing Mayberry in short right field. A few minutes later, Cuddyer awarded Mayberry the belt in the locker room.

"A great feeling to be able to come up in a big spot and get the job done," Mayberry said.

Four Mets relievers combined to allow just one hit -- surrendered by Torres in the top of the 14th -- over the five extra innings.

"Our bullpen was outstanding," Collins said.

The Mets carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth thanks to Duda, who had an RBI single in the fourth, and ace right-hander Matt Harvey, who allowed six hits and one walk while striking out nine over eight impressive innings.

But the Cardinals forced extras against Mets closer Jeurys Familia, who gave up back-to-back one-out singles to first baseman Matt Adams and catcher Yadier Molina before surrendering a sacrifice fly to right fielder Jason Heyward.

"The opportunity to keep playing the game was our goal," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "But we couldn't stack many opportunities after that."
 
 It was the first blown save of the season for Familia, who is tied with Rosenthal for the National League lead in saves with 13.

"To come out of a ballgame in the eighth inning (up) 1-0 as a starter, you've done your job," said Harvey, who has thrown 16 straight scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.98. "I was pretty happy and obviously we're all happy that we won."

Cardinals right-hander John Lackey nearly matched Harvey by allowing one run on three hits and no walks and six strikeouts over seven innings. Lackey threw just 76 pitches but was lifted for pinch hitter Peter Bourjos leading off the eighth.

"Two terrific pitching performances," Matheny said. "John Lackey was as good as any pitcher can be and unfortunately we couldn't get anything going offensively. Their guy was pretty good, too."

Molina had three hits for the Cardinals (25-13), who have lost three of four.

NOTES: The injury-plagued Mets got some good news Monday, when 3B David Wright (right hamstring, back) was cleared to resume baseball activities and C Travis d'Arnaud (broken right pinky finger) began swinging a bat. Wright was injured April 14 and d'Arnaud was hurt April 19. The Mets have a major-league-leading 13 players on the disabled list. ... Two other injured Mets, RHP Vic Black (right shoulder, neck) and RHP Bobby Parnell (Tommy John surgery), will each pitch in an extended spring training league game Tuesday at the Mets' complex in Florida. ... Cardinals manager Mike Matheny picked up his 300th career win in his 523rd game Sunday. Only five managers earned 300 wins in fewer games than Matheny. ... The Cardinals, who are carrying nine relievers, ran out of bench players when C Tony Cruz struck out as a pinch-hitter in the 12th, RHP Seth Maness had to bat for himself in the top of the 14th even though he wasn't going to pitch the bottom of the inning.

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.