Four homers power Cardinals past Mets 9-5

NEW YORK — Dexter Fowler hit a go-ahead, three-run homer moments after Paul DeJong‘s tying shot in the eighth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 9-5 to sweep an odd double feature Friday night.

Hours earlier, DeJong helped the Cardinals complete a rally that started the night before, grounding an RBI single against Edwin Díaz in the 10th inning of a 5-4 win. The series opener Thursday was suspended following 8 1/2 innings, right after Harrison Bader drove in the tying run with a two-out double off Díaz in the rain. It took St. Louis 18 minutes to complete the victory.

DeJong tied the late game at 5 with a leadoff homer against Jeurys Familia (2-1). It was DeJong’s 12th homer of the season, including one off NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom on Thursday.

After a double by Yadier Molina and a walk by Bader, Fowler drove a ball into the visiting bullpen in center field, admiring the shot and taking an easy jog around the bases.

Familia gave New York its major league-leading 16th blown save. He was booed loudly after striking out pitcher John Gant to end the inning and has a 6.91 ERA after signing a $30 million, three-year free agent deal this offseason.

DeJong’s homer steadied St. Louis following a rocky seventh. New York rallied for three runs after loading the bases against Andrew Miller with no outs. The big blow was a go-ahead, two-run single by Wilson Ramos off Gant (6-0) to put the Mets up 5-4.

Jose Martinez gave St. Louis a 4-1 lead with a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the fifth off Steven Matz.

Matz hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning, becoming the fourth Mets starter to go deep this season. The pitching staff entered the night tied with Arizona for the major league lead with four homers.

Matz also singled and raised his average to .261 this season. The left-hander pitched six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and three hits while striking out six.

Kolten Wong added a leadoff homer for the Cardinals in the ninth.

New York made two errors in the late game, bringing its total to an NL-most 50 through 69 games.

FREAKY FRIDAY

In an unusual scene, Thursday’s game resumed at 6:10 p.m. Friday with no anthem, no ceremonial first pitch, no player introductions — none of the hubbub that usually accompanies the start of a big league game. A small crowd at Citi Field saw Carlos Martinez (1-0) pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, and Díaz (1-4) then jogged out of the bullpen to continue his outing.

Pinch-hitter Yairo Muñoz led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on Matt Carpenter‘s groundout. DeJong followed by grounding a ball into left field to score Muñoz.

Jordan Hicks pitched perfectly through the bottom of the inning for his 14th save.

“Carp said right before the game, ‘We’re about to win this game in 20 minutes,’” DeJong said.

WELL MET

DeJong is 26 for 76 (.342) career against New York with 18 extra-base hits.

NO REGRETS

St. Louis rallied for two runs off Díaz in the ninth Thursday after first baseman Pete Alonso and other Mets players lobbied hard to keep the game going. Alonso logged onto Twitter between games Friday and responded to criticism over his decision to shoo away the tarp. Some suggested that if the Mets had kept quiet, the umps would’ve left the tarp on the field and not taken it off, resulting in a Mets win.

“Are you kidding me? Why are you mad at me for having confidence in my teammates?” Alonso wrote. “I’m a damn competitor and I’ll take my team over any one else any day. A real Mets fan doesn’t talk like that. Clean it up.”

TRAINERS ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Dominic Leone was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to be the 26th man for the second game.

Mets: OF Brandon Nimmo was scratched from a rehab appearance with Triple-A Syracuse with neck stiffness. Nimmo hasn’t played since May 20. … 2B Robinson Canó (left quadriceps) was in the lineup for Syracuse. … RHP Taylor Bashlor was brought up from Triple-A Syracuse to be New York’s 26th man.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (4-2) pitches against Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (4-4). Wacha made a successful return to the rotation Monday with six scoreless innings against Miami. Syndergaard previously threw seven shutout innings against Colorado.