ST. LOUIS — As the S.S. Minnow attempts to weather this potentially deadly storm, one question for the Mets: Anybody seen The Captain?
David Wright’s disappearing act continues to top the Mets’ list of woes as they attempt to get this lineup on track. Not only has Wright failed to deliver hits, but he appears lost at the plate.
On a night Jacob deGrom struggled, the Mets had no shot at absolving the rookie in a 6-2 loss to the Cardinals in front of 42,808 at Busch Stadium.
Wright finished 1-for-4 with a single in the eighth, but struck out twice, killing a rally in the third with a whiff against Carlos Martinez. The Mets (31-39) finished with five hits in losing for the 10th time in 13 games.
Wright is 6-for-51 (.118) in June after a homestand in which he produced one hit in 20 at-bats. Wright’s also hasn’t homered in 70 at-bats, dating to May 28 against the Pirates.
The Mets took a shot at rallying in the eighth, getting a run on Chris Young’s pinch-hit RBI single, but Lucas Duda struck out with two runners on base before Seth Maness retired pinch-hitter Matt den Dekker.
In his worst major league start, deGrom (0-4) allowed six earned runs on 12 hits and two walks over 4 ¹/₃ innings. The right-hander was removed in the fifth after Jhonny Peralta’s RBI single put the Mets in a 6-1 hole.
It was a third straight shaky start for deGrom, who hasn’t completed six innings since May 31 at Philadelphia. Over his last 15 innings, spanning those three starts, he has allowed 26 hits.
With Dillon Gee [strained lat] taking steps toward returning to this Mets rotation, it could be deGrom and not Daisuke Matsuzaka who ultimately gets bumped. But deGrom and Matsuzaka figure to receive one to two more starts before the Mets have to make that decision.
Matt Holliday’s 1,000th career RBI, on a single off deGrom, gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Jon Jay’s double started the rally with one out. Allen Craig’s RBI double and Matt Adams’ run-scoring triple added to the carnage in the inning. Dana Eveland got the final two outs in the fifth to keep the Cardinals’ lead at five runs.
The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the fourth against Martinez, but deGrom’s line drive was snagged by Kolten Wong before Eric Young Jr. struck out to end the inning.
Adams’ RBI single in the third put the Mets in a 2-1 hole, but the Cardinals missed a chance at a big inning when Allen Craig was nailed at the plate following Yadier Molina’s single. Young Jr. in left field made a perfect throw home to Taylor Teagarden, who tagged Craig for the third out.
Young Jr.’s infield single in the third led to the Mets pulling within 2-1. Jhonny Peralta threw away Young’s grounder, putting runners on second and third with one out for Curtis Granderson, who delivered a sacrifice fly.
But the rally stalled when Wright struck out with runners on the corners, after Young had reached third on a wild pitch.
Craig’s RBI single in the first gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, but deGrom escaped further trouble by getting Adams to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Martinez, in his second major league start, was removed after four innings in which he allowed one earned run on two hits.