Juan Soto Mets Cardinals LF

Apr 1, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) catches a line drive hit by St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Mets’ offense is still stuck in Opening Day, because that is the only explanation for how quiet they have been over their last five games. 

New York (3-3) could only muster a single run in a 2-1, 11-inning loss in the rubber game to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium, with Masyn Winn’s bloop single eluding a diving Carson Benge in right field to score JJ Wetherholt from third.

The Mets’ one run is the only scoring they have produced in the last 23 innings of play. A stunning lack of success with runners in scoring position has been the culprit. They were 0-for-11 on Wednesday and are now 11-for-68 on the season with RISP.

They had the go-ahead run on second with none out in the top of the ninth inning thanks to Jorge Polanco’s lead-off double, but Luis Robert Jr. struck out, Brett Baty grounded out, and Marcus Semien went down swinging. 

They could do no better with the ghost runner in the 10th. Francisco Alvarez grounded out to the pitcher before Carson Benge and Juan Soto popped out. Mets reliever Tobias Myers was able to push the game to an 11th inning after keeping the Cardinals off the board. 

They loaded the bases in the 11th with one out, but Brett Baty grounded into a force out to get the runner at home, and Semien — now 0-for-his-last-18 — flew out to center. 

Soto’s first home run of the season ended a heinous drought for the Mets’ offense, which had not scored a run for 17.2 innings, and gave the visitors the lead in the top of the sixth inning. 

It was the Mets’ second hit of the afternoon off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore, with Mark Vientos’ double in the fifth inning ending a team 0-for-25 skid that spanned back to the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s loss. Soto’s shot, which went 344 feet and clanged just inside the right-field foul pole above the wall, was New York’s first home run since Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off blast on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

But Peralta, who had been dealing for five frames, helped give it right back in the sixth. He allowed the first two men on through a JJ Wetherholt single and Ivan Herrera walk before ending his afternoon with a strikeout of Alec Burleson. Reliever Huascar Brazoban coaxed an infield pop fly for the second out, but Nolan Gorman’s two-out single tied the game at one apiece. 

Peralta was charged with the run on an afternoon he yielded three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts across 5.1 innings of work.

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