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St. Louis likes to rely on the long ball, coming out of the
weekend with an NL-leading 173 homers after going deep four
times in Sunday's series finale at Philadelphia. "It's not the
only way we can score runs but it's our main way," Brandon Moss
said of the team's home run prowess. "It's nice to have guys in
the lineup who can change a game like that." Yoenis Cespedes
returned to the lineup and provided a much-needed infusion of
power for the Mets, clubbing three homers in his last two games
in a series win at San Francisco. New York trails the Cardinals
by 4 1/2 games for the final playoff slot as it wraps up a
10-game road trip.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets LH Jonathon Niese (8-7, 5.30 ERA) vs.
Cardinals LH Jaime García (10-8, 4.11)
The fifth spot in the rotation has been a nightmare for the
Mets, who nonetheless will stick with Niese despite a day off on
Monday. In his first start since he was re-acquired from
Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, Niese lasted 4 2/3 innings and
was touched for four runs and a pair of homers. Niese is 1-1
with a 7.31 ERA in three starts versus St. Louis this season,
including a whopping .348 batting average against.
Garcia won his third consecutive start despite a rocky
performance last time out in Houston, when he was tagged for
three homers and permitted five runs in five innings. The
30-year-old Mexican was superb in his previous two turns, going
eight innings in each one and yielding a combined two runs on
nine hits. He gave up two earned runs in five innings in a loss
at the Mets on July 26 to drop to 2-2 with a 1.58 ERA against
them.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis has 14 pinch-hit homers this season, tying the
major league mark set by Arizona and San Francisco in 2001.
2. Cespedes has homered 42 times in 154 games for the Mets since
his acquisition at last year's trade deadline.
3. The Cardinals established a franchise record Sunday with at
least three extra-base hits in 14 consecutive games.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Mets 4
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