NEW YORK -- Their star pitcher had been bested. All their momentum had vanished. To beat the Mets on Wednesday night, the Cardinals would need to topple Mets All-Star closer Jeurys Familia, which no team had done in the regular season in nearly a year.
Pulling off that unlikely feat in front of a hostile Citi Field crowd, the Cardinals stole a 5-4 game and a series victory from the Mets, winning two of three in a series of two National League Wild Card contenders. The win vaulted the Cardinals past the Mets in the standings and within one game of the Marlins, who currently hold the league's second Wild Card spot.
And the Cardinals did so against Familia, who had converted 52 consecutive save opportunities before taking a one-run lead to the mound in the ninth. Long a thorn in the Mets' side, catcher Yadier Molina erased that lead with a one-out RBI double, before Kolten Wong plated the go-ahead run with a two-out double.
Wong's go-ahead double
STL@NYM: Wong's double puts the Cardinals back on top
Kolten Wong drives an opposite-field double just inside the line in left and Jeremy Hazelbaker scores to give the Cardinals a late 5-4 lead
Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh had no such issues of his own in the bottom of the ninth, locking down his sixth save.
Oh shuts the door
STL@NYM: Oh finishes off a 5-4 win for the Cardinals
Seung Hwan Oh finishes off a 1-2-3 9th inning as he gets Asdrubal Cabrera to fly out, earning a save and giving the Cardinals a 5-4 win
Yoenis Cespedes had thrown Citi Field's crowd into a frenzy with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, clanging the lead-changing shot off the facing of the second deck in left-center field to chase Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright from the game. That temporarily put starter Logan Verrett in line for the win, after the righty had limited St. Louis to three runs -- a Matt Holliday two-run double and a Matt Adams RBI hit in the third -- in seven innings.
Cespedes' go-ahead smash
STL@NYM: Cespedes puts the Mets ahead with a moonshot
Yoenis Cespedes finishes off a nine-pitch at-bat in style as he launches a two-run home run to left-center to give the Mets a 4-3 lead
Joshua Needelman is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York who covered the Cardinals on Wednesday.
Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2008. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo and Facebook, and listen to his podcast.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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