The New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals finished in a 4-all tie at Tradition Field this afternoon by the final score of 5-5.  For a full box score recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_03_25_slnmlb_nynmlb_1#game=2016_03_25_slnmlb_nynmlb_1,game_state=Wrapup,game_tab=box

Game Notes:

• Noah Syndergaard pitched 6 innings allowing 2 runs, on 5 hits. He gave up no walks and struck out 9.
• Matt Reynolds was 2-3 with 3 RBI’s.
• Wilmer Flores received his first start of the spring at 1B and went 2-4 including a double, with 2 runs scored.
• Kevin Plawecki was 1-2 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs scored.
• Jerry Blevins, Jim Henderson, and Addison Reed combined to pitch 2 scoreless innings in relief.
• Jeurys Familia who was pitching on back-to-back days, struggled mightily as he blew the save in the 9th inning. He pitched 0.1 inning and allowed 4 hits, 3 runs, and allowed 2 walks.
• David Wright was 0-2 with a walk.
• Former Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada received the start at short for the Cardinals, and went 2-3 this afternoon.

First and foremost it was definitely odd seeing Ruben Tejada in another uniform. It’s not as much of an eye sore as seeing Daniel Murphy in a Nationals jersey, but it was still nonetheless weird. On another note, Noah Syndergaard was simply on point again today, as he has been all spring. He was making the Cardinals hitters look silly this afternoon and the ESPN broadcast announcers could not stop gushing at the gas he was throwing from the mound today. Wilmer Flores start at first base went well as he looked to be settled at the position as the game wore on. Keith Hernandez was seen sitting in the dugout with Wilmer before today’s game, which shows Wilmer’s willingness to learn from one of the best. Flores versatility around the diamond provides a great piece for the Mets to keep his bat in the lineup during the season.

Jeurys Familia was completely off this afternoon and charged with the blown save. He entered the game with a 2-run lead and he displayed no command, which in result,  kept many of his pitches up in the strike zone. Many of those pitches up in the zone led to hard hit balls, including a home run from Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk. Familia departed after only getting one out, and leaving the bases loaded. Reliever Zack Thornton came into the game, and was able to get an inning-ending double play to put out Familia’s fire. It was a disappointing development watching Familia struggle,  as it has been such a rare occurrence  and it just leaves another bad taste in your mouth after watching Matt Harvey struggle yesterday. It’s still Spring Training however so I will not lose much sleep over his outing. The Mets rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth to snap their seven game losing streak. 

• The Mets head to Disney to face the Atlanta Braves tomorrow afternoon for a 1:05 pm et start time. The game can be seen if you have an MLB.tv subscription or heard on WOR 710 AM.

• Jacob deGrom will take the mound for the Mets against Braves right-hander Bud Norris.