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Mets beat Cards in 18 innings despite stranding 25 runners

Sports

July 19th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ruben Tejada hit a sacrifice fly in the 18th inning and New York Mets outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Sunday despite stranding 25 baserunners. The Mets went 1 for 26 with runners in scoring position, yet still won the majors’ second-longest game this season. Boston beat the Yankees in 19 innings in April.

It took 5 hours, 55 minutes for the Mets to top the NL Central-leading Cardinals and avoid a three-game sweep. Tejada hit a bases-loaded fly for the lead and Eric Campbell drove in another run with a squeeze bunt. The game was scoreless until before both teams got a run in the 13th.

Carlos Torres (3-4), the seventh Mets pitcher, was the winner. Carlos Martinez (10-4) was pressed into relief and was the Cardinals’ eighth pitcher.