ST. LOUIS — Brandon Nimmo hit a three-run homer to spark a six-run fifth inning, and the New York Mets rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals not only dropped their fourth straight game, but also lost catcher Willson Contreras to a broken left forearm in the second inning after he was hit by J.D. Martinez’s swing. Contreras, a three-time All-Star, is hitting .280 with a team-leading six home runs and 12 RBIs.
“I’m in pain pretty good, but I’m really upset missing,” Contreras said. “I know that it’s going to be tough for me to watch the games and not out there with the guys, but I’m going to do my best to stay present, pick each other up and cheer for them because that’s the best thing I can do.”
José Buttó allowed three runs in five innings as the Mets won their second consecutive game. All three runs he permitted came in the first, but Buttó (1-2) retired nine of his last 10 batters. He yielded five hits, struck out three and walked three.
“It was a struggle for him, especially with the fastball command, that two-seamer,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He couldn’t find it. But he kept making pitches. I thought the secondaries kind of kept him in the game — the changeup, the breaking ball.”
Cole Sulser gave up a solo homer to Alec Burleson in the sixth, Jorge López pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and Reed Garrett worked a scoreless eighth for New York. Adam Ottavino allowed a solo homer to Lars Nootbaar, but earned his first save of the season.
Nimmo’s three-run homer off Miles Mikolas, a 440-foot drive to straightaway center field, tied it 3-all in the fifth. Nimmo, who hit a go-ahead homer Monday, also made a diving catch in the outfield to rob Nolan Gorman of a hit in the fourth.
“He’s continued to put together good at-bats, controlling the strike zone and doing damage with the pitches he can do damage with,” Mendoza said.
Nimmo’s dinger was the third of six straight hits to start the inning as the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth. Pete Alonso ended slumps of 1 for 32 and 2 for 39 with a two-run double and scored on Martinez’s single to give New York a 6-3 lead.
Alonso added a solo homer off Chris Roycroft, who was making his major league debut, in the ninth.
“It’s really nice to be able to help in the manner that I did tonight, and I just want to continue to have good, quality at-bats and keep hitting the ball hard,” Alonso said.
Brendan Donovan drove Buttó’s fourth pitch 407 feet over the right-center wall. It was Donovan’s second career leadoff homer.
The Cardinals plated two more in the first inning on Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Burleson to take a 3-0 lead.
Mikolas (2-5) allowed six runs and nine hits in four-plus innings, but after the game the focus was on Contreras.
“It’s a tough one, man,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s been doing such a phenomenal job. He’s an extreme competitor. He brings so much to the club performance-wise, but also with just his competitive nature, so to see him go down is tough. I feel for him, I really do. He was putting together a really nice year and helping us in a lot of ways, so it’s a tough one.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: RHP Tylor Megill (right shoulder strain) pitched four scoreless innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Syracuse, striking out seven and walking one on 62 pitches. … RHP Kodai Senga (right shoulder capsule strain) is expected to throw a bullpen Wednesday or Thursday.
Cardinals: INF/DH Matt Carpenter (right oblique strain) had a pair of hits, including a two-run homer, in his first rehab game at Triple-A Memphis.
UP NEXT
St. Louis RHP Sonny Gray (4-1, 0.89 ERA) opposes LHP Jose Quintana (1-3, 5.20) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday. Gray’s ERA is the lowest for a Cardinals pitcher in his first five starts with the team since 1910. Quintana threw a season-high eight innings against St. Louis on April 28.
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