The Mets couldn't muster enough offense to counter that output, despite making Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez throw 106 pitches in five innings. Rene Rivera was the only one to break through for the Mets, hitting a two-run homer in the fourth.
With less than 10 weeks remaining in the regular season, the Mets and Cardinals were among four teams bunched within 1 1/2 games of each other for the second NL Wild Card spot at the start of Tuesday's play, all of them chasing the Wild Card-leading Dodgers.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Gyorko keeps going: Gyorko got the Cardinals' offense going, launching a Syndergaard sinker 412 feet to left field, according to Statcast™. The blast was Gyorko's 13th of the season and continued what has been a productive July for the third baseman, during which he has hit .327 (18-for-55) with six home runs and 14 RBIs.
Stay right there: The Mets left the bases loaded against Martinez in the third inning, but it didn't necessarily have to be that way. With Jose Reyes on first base and one out, Yoenis Cespedes boomed a double to right-center that hopped off the wall and right to Tommy Pham. That allowed Pham to hustle the ball back toward the infield, where Mets third-base coach Tim Teufel was in the process of throwing up the stop sign for Reyes. The Mets wound up stranding him there.
Right-handed rarities: Entering his 19th start of the season, right-handed hitters had slugged just .185 against Martinez, but the Mets' right-handed hitters had some success at the plate. In the third inning, Cespedes doubled to right-center and in the fourth, Rivera was able to jump on a 96-mph fastball, sending it to the seats in left. The two extra-base hits tripled the total Martinez had allowed to righties this season, from one to three. The home run was the first homer he has allowed to a right-handed hitter this season and the first since Khris Davis back on Sept. 15, 2015, at Miller Park.
Making it a game: The Mets finally did something with their traffic on the basepaths when Rivera launched a two-run homer off Martinez in the fourth. Prior to that, the Mets had stranded five men on base over the game's first three innings; they went on to leave four more on the basepaths in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
WHAT'S NEXT
Cardinals: Jaime Garcia (7-6, 3.98 ERA) will take the mound in the second game of the doubleheader Tuesday, which is scheduled to start immediately following the first game. In five career starts against the Mets, he is 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA, the lowest mark against any opponent he's faced in his career.
Mets: The Mets transition from their youngest starting pitcher to their oldest when Bartolo Colon takes the mound in Game 2 at Citi Field.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2008. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo and Facebook, and listen to his podcast.
Troy Provost-Heron is a reporter for MLB.com and covered the Cardinals on Tuesday.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Gyorko's HR helps Cards edge Mets in DH opener
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