Mets Suffer No Side Effects After Large Dose of Liberatore in 3-0 Win

Mets 3 Cardinals 0 (Citi Field , Flushing, N.Y.)

Mets record: 14-7

Mets streak: Won 3

L10: 6-4

WP - Kodai Senga (3-1)

LP - Matthew Liberatore (1-2)

SV: Edwin Diaz (5)

Seat on the Korner: Pete Alonso

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

It’s getting to the point where we might as well have Pete Alonso’s name engraved on the leather armrest of the virtual Kiner’s Korner set. Alonso has been a near-daily fixture on our postgame call sheet, and after another standout performance in today's 3–0 win over the Cardinals, he’s earned himself yet another seat next to our A.I. Ralph Kiner.

Pete went 2-for-4 on the day, driving in the Mets’ second run with a sharp RBI double in the third, then added a big insurance run in the eighth with a no-doubt 443-foot moonshot to left—his sixth homer of the season. The Polar Bear continues to mash at a clip that makes the Statcast machine sweat: through the season’s first 21 games, he’s slashing a ridiculous .356/.467/1.220 with 23 RBIs and 26 hits. Whether he’s launching tape-measure shots or lacing doubles into the gap, Alonso is once again proving to be the offensive engine of this team. And with performances like this, there’s always a seat open for him on the Korner.

Need to Know

With the win today the Mets secured their third series victory at home.The Mets have not lost a series at home since August 13-15 against the Athletics.They have now won the last nine series at Citi Field.
The closer Jeff McNeil gets to returning to the roster, the hotter the competition between Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty becomes. It's like two guys racing for the last slice of pizza—with McNeil holding the box and walking back into the room.Over his last eight games, Baty has heated up at the plate, batting .307 (8-for-26) with three runs, two doubles, one triple, two RBIs, one walk, one stolen base. But Acuña has turned it into a footrace—literally. Over his last eight games, he's hitting .363 (8-for-22) with four runs, three doubles, one RBI, three walks, four steals.
The Mets improved to 8-1 at home this season.
With today's shutout the Mets have posted a 1.77 ERA (16 ER/81.0 IP) at home this year.
Despite his first inning strike out Francisco Lindor is batting .421 (8-19) with two runs,three doubles, one home run, one RBI, one walk in the first inning this year.
Mark Vientos’ hitting streak came to an end today after he went 0-for-2 and exited in the top of the fifth inning with groin discomfort. Prior to that, he had been riding a six-game hitting streak—tied for the second-longest of his career (last: 8/30/24 - 9/6/24). During that stretch, Vientos batted .292 (7-for-24) with five runs, two doubles, two homers, five RBIs, one walk, and a .945 OPS.He had homered in back-to-back games before today's early exit—it was the fifth time in his career he's gone yard in consecutive contests. Now the Mets wait to see if this is just a minor tweak, or yet another injury that the Mets need to be concerned about.
José Azócar made his Mets debut, batting ninth and playing center field. He singled in the seventh inning, finishing 1-for-3 on the day.
Brendan Donovan singled in the 2nd inning Friday, continuing his career-high 14-game hitting streak. Against the Mets, Donovan had run his streak to 12 games and nine straight at Citi Field. Matty Alou holds the Cardinals record with a 22-game streak vs. the Mets from 1971-73. Donovan was held hitless in 4 at bats today.
Matthew Liberatore is now 0-2, lifetime career against the Mets, losing in relief on a three-run walk-oﬀ HR by Mark Vientos in the 11th inning on 4/28/24 and today.
Matthew Liberatore issued a rare walk to Brett Baty in the sixth inning—it was just the second free pass he’s allowed all season over 24.1 innings pitched.
Through their first 20 games, the Cardinals had collected six or more hits in 19 of them—the most in the majors. But in Game 21, Mets pitching became just the second staff this season to hold St. Louis under that mark.

Turning Point

The top of the eighth began with A.J. Minter taking over on the mound and immediately walking pinch-hitter Luken Baker. The Cardinals then brought in Michael Siani to pinch-run, and he moved up to second when Lars Nootbaar grounded out to Luisangel Acuña at second for the first out. Willson Contreras followed with a walk, prompting a mound visit as the Mets tried to settle things down. Brendan Donovan then bounced one up the middle that Acuña gloved cleanly and flipped to Francisco Lindor for the force at second, leaving runners on the corners with two outs. Nolan Arenado kept the inning alive with another walk, loading the bases and bringing up Alec Burleson with a chance to change the game. Burleson sent a sharp grounder up the middle, but Lindor ranged over to snag it cleanly spun, and fired a dart to Pete Alonso at first to end the inning. The Citi Field crowd roared as the threat was snuffed out, the 2-0 lead still intact thanks to Lindor’s defensive brilliance.

Three Keys

Juan More Time: Soto Showing Signs

Juan Soto continued to show signs of heating up at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The productive night followed a solid showing the day before, bringing him to 3-for-7 over his last two games. More notably, Soto has now driven in runs in back-to-back games for just the second time this season—a small but encouraging sign that the All-Star slugger may be finding his rhythm. While the power stroke has yet to fully reemerge, Soto is starting to string together quality at-bats, and the signs are there that he's on the cusp of getting on track.

Kodai Ghosts The Cards

On a day when the strikeouts didn’t pile up like they often do when the ghost fork is dancing, Kodai Senga still found a way to baffle one of the National League’s hottest lineups.

The Cardinals came into Sunday’s game having collected six or more hits in 20 of their first 21 games, but Senga flipped that script at Citi Field. The right-hander delivered 5.2 scoreless innings, scattering just three hits while walking two and striking out four. It wasn’t overpowering—but it was undeniably effective.

Senga mixed his pitches well, leaned on his fastball to get ahead, and sprinkled in enough ghost forks to keep St. Louis guessing. His signature splitter wasn’t quite at its nastiest, but he stayed composed and confident, working through a few long at-bats and never letting traffic turn into trouble.

The biggest moment came in the top of the sixth. After a two-out walk to Lars Nootbaar and a single by Willson Contreras, the Cardinals had the tying runs on base and the heart of the order coming up. That’s when manager Carlos Mendoza made the call to the bullpen, ending Senga’s day at 89 pitches. The Citi Field crowd gave the righty a warm ovation as he walked off, having done his job and then some.

Reed it and Weep, Not AJ Not Mint, But Diaz Was.

With Kodai Senga setting the tone over 5.2 shutout innings, the Mets bullpen took the baton and locked things down with ruthless efficiency. Reed Garrett was the first man in, entering with two on and two out in the sixth and needing just one pitch to induce a groundout and extinguish the Cardinals’ best threat of the day. Garrett then cruised through the seventh, keeping his ERA at a sparkling 0.00 while earning his sixth hold of the season.

From there, it was A.J. Minter’s turn to navigate the eighth, and while he issued three walks, he didn’t allow a hit and leaned on a big-time defensive play from Francisco Lindor to strand the bases loaded. Finally, Edwin Díaz came on in the ninth and delivered a clean, dominant save—striking out two while touching upper 90s with his fastball and flashing his signature slider. In total, the bullpen combined for 3.1 hitless, scoreless innings, walking five but never cracking, and preserving the 3-0 win with a mix of grit, guile, and just enough swagger.