Just Mets

With the Mets leading the Cardinals 1-0 in the ninth inning on Monday, Terry Collins called upon Jeurys Familia to secure a win.

It stood to reason. Matt Harvey had thrown 105 pitches through eight innings, and Collins simply could not send him out there to start the ninth inning, despite his brilliance. Familia had converted his first 13 save chances to start the year, so he thought he was putting the game in the safe hands of another potential All-Star.

But it was not meant to be on Monday night. He allowed a one-out single to Matt Adams, but the key to the inning was a beautifully executed hit-and-run by Yadier Molina, who dunked a single into right with pinch-runner Pete Kozma going first to third.

He then battled Jason Heyward very well, and made a good pitch to him with a slider in on his feet, but he golfed it into right field, and Kozma scored on a weak thrown home by Curtis Granderson.

The blown save was not due to a lack of execution on Familia’s part. The two hits were good off-speed pitches away – the Cardinals are a quality offensive team, they hit some very good pitchers pitches and lucked out.

“I think I did the same as I’ve pitched every time I’ve gone out there this year,” Familia said after the game. “I tried to keep the ball down, make quality pitches. They made adjustments.”

Familia’s streak of 13 straight saves to open a season was the fourth-longest such streak in club history.

It was one of those situations where he pitched well, and he had to just tip his cap to St. Louis. They found a way to parlay a dunker by Adams into a run thanks to some creativity by manager Mike Matheny and outstanding execution by a future hall of famer in Molina. It was just unfortunate because it erased a win for Matt Harvey.

But then again, it’s hard to shutout a team like St. Louis with the offense they have. And, it’s hard to win 1-0 games no matter who the opponent is – it would’ve helped if the Mets could have figured out John Lackey earlier in the game.

Having said that, a win is a win.