NEW YORK (AP) - Jacob deGrom tossed his glove all around the dugout. Harrison Bader blamed himself after a big hit. And umpires found themselves caught out in the rain.
A bizarre game left no one totally satisfied - especially after no one won.
The series opener between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets was suspended because of showers Thursday night, moments after Bader hit an RBI double with two outs in the top of the ninth inning that made it 4-all.
“I was a little confused,” deGrom said, adding, “hopefully we win this game.”
Play will resume Friday at 6:10 p.m. beginning in the bottom of the ninth, with Carlos Martinez set to pitch for the Cardinals. That will be followed by the regularly scheduled game between the teams.
St. Louis scored twice in the ninth off All-Star closer Edwin Diaz to tie it, capping a strange sequence that saw umpires reverse their call and order the tarp off the field right after it had been rolled out.
Rain was falling hard when New York took the field for the ninth with a 4-2 lead, and umps ordered the field covered. As the tarp got spread, rookie first baseman Pete Alonso and several other Mets pleaded their case to play on.
After the umps and both managers met in the middle of the diamond, the decision was overturned - no review of the weather map needed.
“Well, it’s a tough call,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “You get that far in the game - I don’t ever pay attention to the radars or anything like that. I just trust what they’re going to see and what their thinking is. The field was starting to take on water obviously, but I understand the thought process trying to push through.”
Said umpire crew chief Jeff Kellogg: “It started to lighten up. So we said, ’Look it, if it’s this light, let’s see if we can … get it playable.”
Diaz stood around the mound while the grounds crew finished working on the field and action resumed after a nine-minute wait.
Kolten Wong hit an RBI single off the left field wall with two outs against Diaz, then scored when Bader doubled into the corner. Wong managed to keep his footing on the soaked dirt as he rounded third, helped when shortstop Amed Rosario had trouble handling the wet ball on a weak relay.
Bader was thrown out after he slipped and fell between second and third.
“He came in, he’s like ’gosh darn it,’” Shildt said “I was like, ’hey, you tied the game, man.’ Tried to make an aggressive play. It’s obviously unusual conditions and wasn’t able to get his footing to scamper back. But obviously a big hit.”
The field was covered after that, and the suspension was announced 50 minutes later.
“What could you do?” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said.
DeGrom pitched seven efficient innings. And a little fit, too.
Bader doubled in the St. Louis third, stole third and scored with two outs when Matt Carpenter hit an easy grounder to an empty spot on the left side of the infield.
When the inning ended, deGrom slammed his glove to the floor in the dugout. Not done, the NL Cy Young Award winner picked up his mitt and zinged it off the wall, ricocheting around a Mets trainer sitting nearby.
“You make a pitch … and nobody’s there, I was frustrated,” deGrom said. “I thought I was out of the inning.”
Michael Conforto connected for a two-run homer off Jack Flaherty, the Mets’ team-record 17th straight home game with a long ball. Paul DeJong went deep for St. Louis.
OH, BABY!
Mets catcher Wilson Ramos got a big surprise when he was in the on-deck circle in the fourth inning: His wife made her way down to the screen and held up a sign that said, “We’re Pregnant!”
Moments later, Ramos struck out looking. This will be the couple’s third child.
BADER’S BACKERS
This was the first big league game in New York for Bader, who grew up in nearby Bronxville. His mom, dad and 150 people from his high school came out to root for him, and he rewarded them with two doubles, a single, two steals and a nifty catch on Rosario’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley (shoulder impingement) was put on the 10-day injured list and rookie lefty Génesis Cabrera was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: In the regularly scheduled game, RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-0, 1.80 ERA) starts in place of injured Adam Wainwright (hamstring).
Mets: LHP Steven Matz (5-4, 3.88) is 0-3 with an 8.49 ERA in three career starts vs. St. Louis.
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