The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the final score of 7-2 this afternoon at Tradition Field.

For a full box score recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_03_10_slnmlb_nynmlb_1#game=2016_03_10_slnmlb_nynmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• Noah Syndergaard pitched 3 innings allowing 1 hit, no runs, and 2 strikeouts.
• Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless inning of relief this afternoon.
• Asdrubal Cabrera left today’s contest early with a sore knee.
• Ruben Tejada was 1-2 with a 2-run home run and a run scored.
• Travis Taijeron hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 7th.
• Wilmer Flores had a 2-3 afternoon, and is now batting .500 this Spring.

Ruben Tejada’s home run to left-center field this afternoon was one of the highlights of the game. With much speculation surrounding Tejada’s roster spot, including being a trade candidate to the St. Louis Cardinals, he came on for an injured Asdrubal Cabrera and provided a bang in his first at bat. Tejada also received a nice ovation by the Tradition Field crowd when he replaced an injured Cabrera on the bases in the bottom of the first. You can’t help but feel good for Tejada in his return from that gruesome leg injury, and with the speculation that is surrounding him. Asdrubal Cabrera is scheduled to undergo an MRI tonight to see if there is any ligament damage to the left knee. As of right now, he has been diagnosed with a sore knee, and the MRI results will determine if it is more than that. Noah Syndergaard looked to be in midseason form already in his Grapefruit League debut this afternoon. Syndergaard’s fastball was hitting 98 mph, and he was mowing through the Cardinals lineup before allowing a hard hit ball to Matt Hazelbaker, with 2 outs in the bottom of the third, that was just out of reach of the glove of Wilmer Flores.  Michael Conforto went 0-2 against Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia this afternoon including a strikeout. Terry Collins will be judged on how often he allows Conforto to face lefties, and Conforto will be relied upon to show growth against southpaws when he is in the lineup this season. Expect Collins to have Conforto in the lineup this spring whenever the Mets face a left-handed pitcher. The legend of Travis Taijeron continues this spring, as he had a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to put the game out of reach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Taijeron is hitting an astounding .389 so far this spring, but needs to cut down on the strikeouts as he has 6 in 18 at bats thus far. He will be traveling to Viera with the team tomorrow. 

• The Mets travel to Viera, to take on the Washington Nationals for a 1:05 pm start. The game will not be televised, but can be streamed through Washington Nationals radio network if you subscribe to MLB.tv Premium.
• Steven Matz will make his second start of the spring against Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. Also expected to take the mound for the Mets include, LHP Sean Gilmartin, LHP Duane Below, RHP Logan Verrett, RHP Zach Thornton, RHP Akeel Morris, RHP Paul Sewald, and RHP Seth Lugo.