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Mets beat the Cardinals again as Jacob Degrom settles in

Two games into the season, the New York Mets have produced two wins with stout pitching and solid hitting, but a 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday also produced the Mets’ first injury exit of 2018.

Anthony Swarzak, a right-handed newcomer to the bullpen, grimaced after firing a pitch with two outs in the eighth inning. After a visit from manager Mickey Callaway and the head athletic trainer, Brian Chicklo, Swarzak left the mound with what the team described as a sore left oblique. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday.

“I’ve never felt anything like this in my side before,” Swarzak said after the game, noting that no magnetic resonance imaging exam was planned at this point. “Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow and this is just a little scare.”

In replacing Swarzak, Callaway, the former pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians, got to experience some National League strategy by executing a double-switch.

“First double-switch was something that I never had to do, and then I had to do it on-the-fly out on the mound with an injured player,” a smiling Callaway said after the game. “I’m glad I got that right.”

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Jacob deGrom, the Mets’ ace, started off inefficiently but ended up allowing just one run and striking out seven over 5 2/3 innings. Three Mets relievers combined to allow one run for the rest of the game. Swarzak allowed the run and threw 30 pitches over one and a third innings.

“Big win the other day and wanted to come out here and win again today,” deGrom said.

Third baseman Todd Frazier, another new Met, collected only one hit yet drove in three runs. Frazier drove in two runs in the first inning with a double, and Jay Bruce — not known as a speedster — beat the throw home without a slide.

“Hustling out of the box,” Frazier said. “Scoring on a base hit or a double. We put pressure on other guys. We’re not necessarily stealing, but we’re smart base runners.”

Frazier faced a minor scare when he was hit on the left hand by a pitch from the Cardinals’ starter, Michael Wacha, in the fifth inning, but he stayed in the game.

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Travis d’Arnaud, the Mets’ catcher, hit the team’s first home run of the season, a solo blast in the fourth inning. Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hit one of his own an inning later.

D’Arnaud played his first game of the season after Kevin Plawecki got the start on opening day. Callaway said he liked the roster’s flexibility.

“We’ve got guys that haven’t even played yet that can start and will start on occasion, so getting all of our players in the game and using them all, we have no qualms about that,” Callaway said.

Second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who batted in the leadoff spot after hitting cleanup on opening day, collected three hits. The Elias Sports Bureau said that Cabrera was the first player since 1915 to bat cleanup on opening day and then hit leadoff the next game.

DeGrom threw 58 pitches through the first three innings, but he allowed just five Cardinals to reach base and finished with 101 pitches. In the chilly weather, deGrom said, he lost the feel and command of his fastball, so he used his secondary pitches more.

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“I was having a hard time getting a grip on the ball, but other than that I was able to keep them off the board, gave them one run,” deGrom said.

Wacha had a tough outing, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings, walking two and hitting a batter.

“It was pretty rough,” Wacha said. “Just missed too many spots.”

Down by three runs, St. Louis threatened with back-to-back singles to lead off the seventh. After Kolten Wong grounded out against Robert Gsellman, Swarzak retired pinch-hitter Greg Garcia and Dexter Fowler to strand both runners.

“Today we had some opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Mike Matheny, the Cardinals’ manager. “We get an opportunity with guys in scoring position, we got to get a way to get it done. Some days it’s harder than others.”

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In the eighth, Jeurys Familia replaced Swarzak and struck out Yadier Molina to end the inning, then fired a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season, enabling the Mets to open the season with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2013.

It was the 107th save of Familia’s career, tying him with Jesse Orosco for third on the Mets’ all-time list.

The New York Times

JAMES WAGNER © 2018 The New York Times

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