Mets Fall to Cards 2-1, Dynamic Line-Up Kept In Check By Carpenter

Today the Mets lost to the Cardinals 2-1 (box score) despite a good outting from John Maine, and probably the most potent line-up in recent Mets history.

Maine looked good today going 5 innings and only giving up 3 hits.  Unfortunately for Maine, and the Mets, two of those hits were solo homers, one by Brendan Ryan and the other by Pujols.  Outside of the homers, Maine looked good from what I saw, facing what looked like the Cardinals everyday line-up minus Molina.

Also pitching well today was, well, everyone else.  Only one other hit was given up when Maine left the game, and that was given up by Nieve.  Nieve and Calero both went an inning each, and Dessens and Felciano split the final innings, keeping the 'birds scoreless for the rest of the game.

At the plate, the Mets were luck to manage any offense off of Chris Carpenter with the lackluster line-up Jerry put out there today.  But they did manage 4 hits and a run, with the highlight being Frank Catalanotto driving in Tatis for the Mets only run with a double.  This hit was a big one for Catalanotto, showing that the final bench spot is still in play.  Also helping contribute to the final bench spot competition were Mike Jacobs and Chris Carter who both failed to get hits.  In-all-fairness Carter's only at bat was as a pinch hitter, while Jacobs got the start and went 0-3. 

More intrigue to come tomorrow, when...

The spring rages on tomorrow, with the Mets facing the Marlins at 1:05 pm in Jupiter...