Ollie's Dominant Outing Flushed After Lopez Slam

ST. LOUIS-- It almost looked like game 7 of the 2006 NLCS the way Oliver Perez was pitching against the Cardinals. Unfortunately, it ended in the same result.

Oliver Perez tossed 6 1/3 dominant innings against Albert Pujols and the Cardinals on Friday night but it all came crashing down thanks to a Felipe Lopez grand slam.

The Mets didn't put together a huge offensive night. The only run they scored was in the second inning when Jeff Francoeur scored from second base on a sacrifice bunt by Oliver Perez.

After Perez laid down a perfect bunt, moving Francoeur to third, Francoeur made a mad-dash to home plate from third. Cardinals third baseman David Freese tried to throw Francoeur out at the plate, but the throw was off, allowing the run to score.

Meanwhile, Oliver Perez was taken out with one out in the seventh. Fernando Nieve came on with one man on and hit pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker. He followed that with a walk to pinch-hitter Matt Holliday.

He was relieved by Raul Valdes who gave up a grand slam to Cardinals second baseman Felipe Lopez, giving St. Louis a 4-1 lead.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter had a fine outing as well. In seven innings, he allowed one run on four hits, striking out 10.

Trailing 4-1 in the ninth, the Mets attempted a rally. Jeff Francoeur continued his red-hot hitting with his second hit of the game.

Gary Matthews doubled Francoeur to third and Frank Catalanotto, pinch-hitting, hit an RBI single cutting the deficit to 4-2.

Jose Reyes then drove in a run with a fielder's choice groundout making it 4-3, but the Mets would fall one run short as Luis Castillo ended the rally with a groundout to short.

For the Mets, this was as devastating a loss in recent memory, and for two reasons.

One- they got a fantastic outing out of Oliver Perez, whom had been their most inconsistent starter.

Two- they shut down Albert Pujols, who went 0-for-4.

If this game were played on a computer, it would've spit out Mets win. Well, that's why they play the games. With the loss, the Mets fall to 3-7 on the season.

Series probable pitchers:
April 17
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Jaime Garcia (2010: 1-0, 1.50 ERA)
April 18
New York: John Maine (2010: 0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Adam wainwright (2010: 2-0, 1.20 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
April 17-18 @ St. Louis Cardinals
April 19-22 vs. Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals:
April 17-18 vs. New York Mets
April 19-21 @ Arizona Diamondbacks