Juan Soto homers, drives in two as Mets and Cardinals play to tie

The Mets are now 8-10-3 in spring training games. The Cardinals are 8-11-2.

Here are the main takeaways…

–Kodai Senga threw 3.1 innings and allowed seven (!) hits and two runs while striking out one, walking none, and also throwing a wild pitch. He threw 53 pitches, 30 for strikes and 30 of his pitches overall were four-seam fastballs – he said afterward it was a fastball-heavy night as he hones his repertoire during camp.

-Senga gave up several hard-hit balls, including a 356-foot home run to No. 9 batter Yohel Pozo in the third inning. Senga got some help from José Siri, who made two nice running catches in center field on back-to-back plays to end the second inning. 

-Senga came out of the game with one out and a runner on first in the third inning after throwing 23 pitches in that frame alone. Righty Carlos Guzman got the final two outs of the inning. But then Senga returned to the game to pitch the fourth inning, which is allowed by spring training rules. Carlos Mendoza had said before the game that Senga would have four “ups” in the game. Senga gave up a hit to the leadoff batter in all four innings. The fourth inning started with Senga allowing a single and a double on the first two pitches, but he retired the next three in order.

-The Senga vs. Pozo at-bat had some interesting wrinkles, and came after Michael Helman hammered a double over the head of left-fielder Tyrone Taylor. The first pitch of Pozo’s at-bat was a 93.4 mile-per-hour fastball. Two pitches later, Senga threw a 63.5 mph curve. Pozo, who had not had a hit this spring prior to his homer, connected for his homer on a 3-2 sweeper traveling about 84 mph.

–Brett Baty, vying for playing time as either the second baseman while Jeff McNeil is on the mend or as a utility player, smacked a two-out double to left in the fourth inning and finished 1-for-3. Baty entered the game tied for eighth with 11 Grapefruit League hits. 

–Reed Garrett threw a 1-2-3 fifth inning and now has tossed five innings this spring and allowed no runs and just one hit. He fanned one, giving him six strikeouts against one walk. Chris Devenski and Sean Reid-Foley also threw scoreless frames and Trey McLoughlin, a 16th-round pick out of Fairfield in 2021, struck out the side in the top of the ninth.

-The Mets tied the score at 3-3 in the eighth inning when José Azocar scampered home on a wild pitch. Azocar singled and then stole second and moved to third when the catcher’s throw went awry. 

Game MVP: Juan Soto

Soto entered the night with a .905 slugging percentage this spring. In the first inning, he smacked a solo home run off righty Michael McGreevy. It was Soto’s fourth homer of camp and he had entered the game tied for ninth in MLB spring blasts. In the fifth, Soto sprinted to make a sliding catch in right field.

One inning later, he hit an RBI single to bring the Mets within one, 3-2. Soto drove in Francisco Lindor, who had started the inning with a chopper that glanced off Helman’s glove at second. Lindor never stopped running and dove into second base with a hustle double. 

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets hit the road to take on the Washington Nationals on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

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