Juan Soto went 2-for-4, including the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, and the New York Mets avoided a sweep with a 5-4 win against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings. Brooks Raley (2-1) tossed a scoreless seventh for the win, and Devin Williams got St. Louis out in order in the ninth for the save.
Hunter Dobbins gave up three runs on seven hits, fanning five, in 4 1/3 innings for the Cardinals, who had won six straight.
Dobbins faced one batter in the fifth before he was pulled for Justin Bruihl, and New York capitalized to tie the game 4-4.
Soto doubled in the Mets’ first at-bat against Bruihl, and Jared Young followed with a single to center that brought Soto home.
Soto, in the lineup as the designated hitter, broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh off reliever JoJo Romero (0-2). Down 1-2 in the count, he knocked a solo shot into right-center field to make it 5-4.
Trailing by two after the first, St. Louis rallied in the second to take the lead. Lars Nootbaar hammered a fastball 445 feet to the upper deck in right center to pull the visitors within one.
Masyn Winn then stepped up for a double and Jimmy Crooks followed with a home run right field to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.
Alec Burleson extended his hitting streak to 11 games to open the scoring in the top of the first inning. With two out, the St. Louis first baseman mashed a first-pitch fastball into the upper deck in right field for a 1-0 lead.
New York responded in the bottom half. Carson Benge led off with a single to center field, and Bo Bichette followed with a home run to left center to put the Mets ahead 2-1.
Two batters later, Young put a splitter over the center-field wall into the Cardinals’ bullpen for a solo shot that pushed it to 3-1.
