With thunderstorms expected throughout Monday afternoon and evening, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals had to wait longer than expected to see if the fireworks between the teams would continue.
After Monday’s scheduled opener of a four-game series was rained out, the Mets are slated to host the Cardinals in a straight doubleheader Tuesday afternoon. The first game will begin at 3:10 p.m. EST and will be followed immediately after by the nightcap.
Neither team announced the order of its Tuesday starters following Monday’s rainout, though the Mets confirmed right-handers Taijuan Walker (1-0, 3.00 ERA) and Trevor Williams (0-2, 5.73 ERA) will start in some order.
Right-hander Miles Mikolas (3-1, 1.49 ERA) and left-hander Steven Matz (3-3, 6.40 ERA) are lined up to start for St. Louis.
The weather provided both teams an extra chance to rest after eventful games Sunday. The host Mets left the bases loaded in the ninth inning of an 8-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners, while the iconic St. Louis trio of Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols made some unique bits of history as the Cardinals routed the visiting San Francisco Giants, 15-6.
The tandem of Wainwright and Molina became the winningest battery in history by earning their 203rd victory together while Pujols made the first mound appearance of his 22-year career by allowing four runs in the ninth inning.
While the sight of Pujols pitching elicited some laughter, nobody was chuckling April 27, when a three-game series between the Mets and Cardinals in St. Louis ended with a benches-clearing skirmish.
After Cardinals left-hander Genesis Cabrera hit J.D Davis in the left foot in the top of the eighth — the fifth hit by pitch absorbed by the Mets in the series and the major league-leading 19th time they’d been plunked in 2022 — New York right-hander Yoan Lopez went up-and-in with his first pitch to Nolan Arenado in the bottom half.
Arenado began yelling at Lopez before the dugouts and bullpens emptied.
“When you come up top like that and jeopardize someone’s career and life, yeah, I take exception to that,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
Arenado was ejected along with first base coach Stubby Clapp, who tackled Mets first baseman Pete Alonso during the scrum. Alonso was hit in the helmet the night before by Kodi Whitley’s pitch.
“I’ll let them handle their players,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I know our player got hit in the head and went to first base.”
Walker earned the win May 12, when he allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 4-1. Williams, who is filling in for the injured Tylor Megill in the Mets’ rotation, last pitched on May 11, when he relieved Megill and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings in an 8-3 loss to the Nationals.
Mikolas earned the win May 11, when he gave up one run over seven innings as the Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-1. Matz took the defeat May 12 after surrendering three runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 3-2 loss to the Orioles.
Walker is 1-1 with a 2.52 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals. Williams is 4-6 with a 5.64 ERA in 19 games (14 starts) against St. Louis.
Mikolas is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in three games (two starts) against the Mets. Matz is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA in two starts against New York, for whom he played from 2015 through 2020.
–Field Level Media