The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Mets this afternoon by the final score of 9 to 4 in Jupiter. For a complete boxscore recap click the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_03_07_nynmlb_slnmlb_1#game=2016_03_07_nynmlb_slnmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• In Steven Matz first start of the spring, the southpaw went 3 innings allowing 1 hit on 1 ER with 3 K’s.
• Travis Taijeron continued his great spring with the bat, going 1-3 with an RBI single. He is batting a red hot .417 currently in Grapefruit League action.
•  Dilson Herrera had his first hitless game of the spring, going 0-4 with 2 K’s.
• The Mets committed 4 errors in the field this afternoon including a throw by Kevin Plawecki, and a misplayed ball by Travis Taijeron.
• Jeff Walters had another rough outing in his return from Tommy John surgery, allowing 5 runs, on 4 hits in a 1/3 of an inning. His ERA sits at an inflated 22.50.

This was an overall sloppy game played by the Mets this afternoon, and probably the worst game they have played so far this spring. The good news coming out of this game is that Steven Matz looked sharp, and looked like the Rookie of the Year favorite we are all expecting him to be. Matz struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning on nine straight strikes, which was overly impressive for his first start of the season. It can be argued that if Plawecki didn’t make an errant throw to second base in the bottom of the third, which allowed the runner to go from first to third, Matz may have come out without a run attached to his name today. Travis Taijeron continued his torrid start to the spring with his bat notching his 4th RBI in Grapefruit League play. Taijeron may be this year’s spring story of a player coming out of nowhere to impress the coaching staff and fans alike. Expect Taijeron to continue to receive a lot of playing time from the coaching staff this spring. Jeff Walters’s return from Tommy John hasn’t gone according to plan so far in Grapefruit League action, and he eerily reminds me of Bobby Parnell’s return from TJ surgery last season. Hopefully for Walters career’s sake he can get it together soon.

• The Mets head to Orlando tomorrow to face the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 pm et. The game will not be broadcast on television. However if you have MLB.tv Premium you can listen to the game on the Braves radio network.
• Matt Harvey will be making his spring debut for the Mets. He will be facing Braves right hander Matt Wisler.
• Also scheduled to pitch for the Mets, RHP Chase Bradford, LHP Dario Alvarez, and RHP Rafael Montero.