Those Mets

A 20 INNING 2-RUN WIN

So this is the formula for success? Twenty innings, two runs and one much-needed victory. Joe Mather served up a walk-off sacrifice fly to Jose Reyes in the 20th inning on Saturday, lifting the Mets to a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals. The Mets were also involved in the longest scoreless game in Major League history, losing, 1-0, to the Astros in 24 innings on April 15, 1968. And the longest game in Mets history came against the Cardinals, a 4-3 loss on Sept. 11, 1974 at Shea Stadium. In their 49-year history, the Mets have played merely three games longer than 20 innings. This one finally ended when Mather -- the second Cardinals position player to pitch -- allowed singles to Angel Pagan and Mike Jacobs with no outs in the 20th, then served up Reyes' sacrifice fly. Both teams inexplicably scored in the 19th inning. The Mets took a one-run lead on Jeff Francoeur's sacrifice fly off Mather, who had walked two batters and hit another to load the bases. But Mather escaped from that jam, and Yadier Molina tied the game on a single to right off Francisco Rodriguez, who blew his first save opportunity of the season. Though Cardinals manager Tony La Russa ran out of pitchers in the 18th inning and resorted to using position players, Mets skipper Jerry Manuel rationed his relievers more effectively, saving Rodriguez for the 19th. Starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey recorded three outs in the 20th for his first career save. For the third straight day, the Mets received a stellar starting pitching performance. This time, it was Johan Santana's effort -- along with that the entire bullpen -- in a game that lasted more than six hours. Santana held the Cardinals to four hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out nine. But the Mets could do nothing against rookie starter Jaime Garcia, who took a no-hitter into the sixth. Over the past three games, Mets starters have allowed a total of one earned run in 20 1/3 innings. But two of those starts -- Oliver Perez's on Saturday, Santana's on Sunday -- have resulted in no-decisions. The Cardinals loaded the bases off Fernando Nieve with two outs in the 10th, but Alex Cora -- who entered the game with four innings at first base in his entire career -- tumbled into the stands to make a highlight-reel grab of Matt Holliday's foul pop. In the 14th, the Cardinals put men on second and third with no outs. But Hisanori Takahashi struck out Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick in succession, intentionally walked Albert Pujols and then punched out pitcher Blake Hawksworth to end the threat. (MLB.com)