Nimmo, Manaea and Díaz lead the Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning that sent the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.
“Honestly, the home run I hit was a good pitch,” Nimmo said. “That’s something that really gives you confidence.”
Sean Manaea (2-1) pitched six effective innings and Edwin Díaz rebounded from a rare blown save Sunday as the Mets bounced back from a weekend sweep at Tampa Bay.
“He was aggressive with all of his pitches,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said about Manaea. “He just threw strikes. That was the plan. He attacked the hitters.”
Iván Herrera had a two-run double for the Cardinals, who have lost five of six.
Díaz worked a 1-2-3 inning for his fifth save in six opportunities. The star closer gave up Randy Arozarena’s tying solo homer on a full-count pitch with two outs in the ninth Sunday, and the Rays went on to win 7-6 in 10 innings.
Before that, Díaz had converted 26 consecutive save chances dating to 2022 — which was the longest active streak in the majors.
Manaea allowed three runs, six hits and one walk in his first career start against the Cardinals. He became the first Mets starter to earn a win since Luis Severino beat Pittsburgh 9-1 on April 17.
“I was just attacking guys,” Manaea said. “I felt good. My fastball and cutter were really, really good. I thought my changeup was OK. My sweeper was good. All in all, it was a pretty good outing.”
Nimmo went deep off Andrew Kittredge (0-1) with one out in the seventh, putting the Mets up 4-3 with his second go-ahead homer this season. New York’s leadoff man finished with two hits and scored twice. He is 13 for 41 (.317) with two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 11 games.
“I felt like, hey, it’s coming around,” Nimmo said. “I still feel like there’s more in the tank that I can get better at. I got some good pitches to do something with tonight. I just try and keep my head down and battle.”
It was the first homer allowed by Kittredge this year.
“It’s tough. If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” he said. “Our goal when we toe the mound is to put up zeros. It’s a long season. Right now, we’re trying to hang in there.”
St. Louis tied the score with three runs in the sixth. Willson Contreras doubled in José Fermín, who led off with a single. Paul Goldschmidt walked and Herrera doubled home two runs with two outs, but was thrown out stretching at third.
The clutch swing gave Herrera his first RBIs since April 17 and his first extra-base hit since April 10.
“We had a good inning there and then we ran into a pretty good bullpen,” Cardinals manger Oliver Marmol said. “It’s hard to score on that back end.”
The Mets scored twice in the fifth for a 3-0 lead. Tomás Nido led off with his second single and went to third on Nimmo’s single and an error by right fielder Lars Nootbaar. Starling Marte drove in a run with a groundout, and Francisco Lindor added a sacrifice fly.
DJ Stewart had a two-out RBI double in the first off Kyle Gibson, who allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings. Gibson has pitched six or more innings in all seven starts this season.
“My location wasn’t good,” Gibson said. “My changeup wasn’t good. We haven’t played like we want to play and we’re not where we want to be.”
TRANSACTIONS
Mets: Claimed RHP Yohan Ramírez off waivers from Baltimore. Ramírez began the season with the Mets before they traded him to the Orioles for cash on April 11. RHP Max Kranick was designated for assignment.
Cardinals: Selected RHP Chris Roycroft from Triple-A Memphis. The 6-foot-8 Roycroft posted a 1.38 ERA in 11 games at Memphis. INF Tommy Edman (right wrist surgery) was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: C Francisco Alvarez (left thumb surgery) had stitches removed.
Cardinals: Placed RHP Giovanny Gallegos (right shoulder impingement) on the 15-day injured list. Gallegos is 2-1 with a 12.00 ERA and one save in 13 appearances. … INF/DH Matt Carpenter (right oblique strain) will head to Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday to continue his rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP José Buttó (0-2, 2.57 ERA) took the loss April 26 against St. Louis when he allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (2-4, 5.68) threw a season-high 101 pitches in his last start, a 4-1 defeat in Detroit.
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