Adams supplies Cardinals' offense in 7-2 loss to Mets
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Noah Syndergaard allowed one hit in three scoreless innings in his spring training debut, helping the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Thursday.
Syndergaard, who finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting last year, retired his first eight batters. He struck out two and walked none.
"I felt great out there," Syndergaard said. "It was nice getting out there, getting my feet wet. A little amped up. It's been a long wait to get on the mound and be able to get out there and compete, but overall it was a pretty solid performance."Ruben Tejada hit a two-run homer for the Mets after replacing Asdrubal Cabrera, who left in the first inning with a knee injury.
Matt Adams homered twice for the Cardinals, including a two-run drive. Stephen Piscotty had a hit, walked and stole a base.
Wilmer Flores added two hits for the Mets and Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a double, and scored twice.
Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia allowed three hits in 3 2/3 shutout innings, struck out two and walked one.
STARTING TIME
Cardinals: Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena said Garcia's pitches had a lot of movement Thursday.
"Using the sinker today, it was pretty good. Everybody knows that's his bread and butter. It was fun to be behind home plate with him today. I think the changeup was our key factor today. It really gets the hitters off balance and then we went back there attacking with the two-seam and then finishing with a slider or a curveball."
Mets: Sydergaard threw 29 of 38 pitches for strikes.
"The command - so many strikes," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "That was what I think was really most impressive. He's a sensational strike thrower and he throws that hard. ... It was a good outing for him."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: Cabrera was scheduled to have an MRI on his left knee Thursday night. He was injured when he tagged up from first base on a long fly ball by Yoenis Cespedes. The throw from Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham was offline so Cabrera opted not to slide at the last second.
"I was thinking to slide, I saw the bad throw so I tried to stand up and I felt something in my knee," Cabrera said. "It's sore right now. I don't think it's serious."
Cardinals: Catcher Yadier Molina (thumb) checked out fine a day after making his spring training debut with three innings and a nice sweeping tag, and could catch Carlos Martinez on Friday. Prospect Patrick Wisdom, who homered Wednesday, has a minor hamstring injury. GM John Mozeliak says Wisdom likely will be out a week.
STILL GOT IT
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, a former catcher, made a nice play on a foul ball by Pena. Standing on the top step of the Cardinals dugout, Matheny caught the hard chopper with his right hand, looked at the ball and then flipped it to some Cardinals fans in the first row behind the dugout.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Martinez makes his first spring training start on Friday against the Braves. It's his first outing since getting shut down late last season with shoulder tightness. Set-up men Seung Hwan Oh and Seth Maness are also scheduled to pitch.
