Similarly to yesterday in Cincinnati, the Cardinals returned home and had a total clunker tonight. Sonny Gray drew the start and didn’t even make it through five innings, allowing six runs as the Mets pulled away quickly.

There was some hope early on. The Cardinals actually struck first when Masyn Winn beat out a throw to first base following a leadoff double and stolen base by Lars Nootbaar. Winn was initially ruled out, but the call was overturned.

After the Mets jumped in front in the second, the Cardinals punched back, tying the game on a stolen base by Victor Scott II and a throwing error that allowed him to score. Willson Contreras then drove in Masyn Winn to put St. Louis back in front.

But that was all she wrote the offense. The Mets scored seven unanswered runs and won the game 9-3. Let’s break this one down.

Gray struggles

Gray looked strong in the first inning, but a long second inning drove his pitch count up, and he was pretty shaky all night. By the fifth, he had run out of gas. He allowed a two-run shot to Pete Alonso that put the Mets in front again.

He left with one out in the fifth, having surrendered four runs. Chris Roycroft then entered and Gray’s leftover runners scored.

To be fair, the botched double play hurt, but that meant two of the six runs he allowed weren’t earned.

This was by far his worst start of the year. I don’t think it’s quite time to sound the alarm bells or anything, but he hasn’t been his usual dominant self since that start against Houston last month, where he went seven scoreless innings.

Mets explode

The Mets really came out swinging tonight. They played a little small ball in the second, manufacturing two runs and taking the lead after falling behind early. They were quiet until the fifth when Alonso took Gray deep.

The misplay by Willson Contreras cost the Cardinals a double play that would have gotten them out of the inning down just 4-3, but a run scored to make it 5-3 and the Mets capitalized again when Francisco Alvarez singled in a run.

New York put up two more in the seventh. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo homer and Alvarez drove in yet another run. LuisAngel Acuna had a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 9-3.

Helsley gets work

Down 8-3 in the ninth, the Cardinals gave Ryan Helsley some work. He wasn’t terribly sharp, allowing a run, but it was important that he appeared in a game.

It had been since last Saturday when he blew a save against the Brewers that he had pitched. But this is what I was talking about this morning in my blog post. He’s not going to get a lot of save chances with the Cardinals, so trading him now wouldn’t be the worst thing.

The guy needs to pitch, and I’m glad he was used tonight. If they’re not going to trade him now, they need to find opportunities to use him more frequently so he can maintain his trade value.

Gorman has an 0-for

Finally, one thing that really stood out to me was just how bad Nolan Gorman looked at the plate tonight. He at least made some solid contact, but that doesn’t help much when it’s hit right to a guy.

He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, and his average dipped to .172 on the year. I know this season is about getting young guys runway, and Gorman does need chances, but how much longer can the Cardinals let this go on?

He looks completely lost at the plate and is essentially an automatic out. Meanwhile, Thomas Saggese continues to rake in Memphis. At a certain point, he needs to be called up in favor of Gorman.

The Cardinals can still stay true to this reset and give young guys playing time. They just need to give playing time to the right guys.

Fortunately, the Blues forced Game 7 against the Jets at Enterprise Center and the Battlehawks won, so tonight wasn’t a total loss by any means.

The Cardinals will try to avoid a series loss tomorrow at 1:15.