ST. LOUIS — Carlos Carrasco’s woes this season have largely underscored the Mets’ starting pitching inconsistencies.
The veteran right-hander has sprinkled in the occasional gem, but too often his starts have been abbreviated by pitch count or fears of letting him face a batting order for the third time.
In other instances he’s been flat-out brutal.
Sunday he fell somewhere in the middle of that triangle, yanked in the fifth inning after allowing a two-run homer to Paul Goldschmidt in the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Denied a four-game sweep against a reeling opponent, the Mets (58-67) are back to the big-boy portion of the schedule with a series that opens Monday in Atlanta.
The Braves recently destroyed the Mets in winning three of four games at Citi Field by a 41-9 count.
The lost sweep against the Cardinals — which snapped the Mets’ four-game winning streak — wasn’t all on Carrasco: A Mets lineup that had produced generously for the last week was quieted and Trevor Gott surrendered four runs in the seventh to give the Cardinals a cushion.
In four-plus innings, Carrasco allowed three earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. It was his third straight start in which he failed to pitch into the sixth inning.
Asked to summarize his season, Carrasco said: “I am pretty sure I have had more downs than ups.”
Carrasco, who owns a 6.42 ERA, will be a free agent after the season.
It remains to be seen if the Mets at some point in their final 37 games will give his rotation spot to a pitcher who might figure into their future (such as Mike Vasil at Triple-A Syracuse). Another option is Joey Lucchesi, who returned to Syracuse after pitching 5 ²/₃ scoreless innings for the Mets on Friday.
“It’s not something we’re thinking about right now,” manager Buck Showalter said. “That would be something that everybody would weigh in on. Carlos has had some competitive outings for us here recently and that has been big for us because with some of the trades we made we are pushing the load around with some of the other guys.
“But that [replacing Carrasco] is something we would talk about in detail if that was so … the answer is no, not right now.”
Early on, the sweep seemed attainable.
Rafael Ortega, running from first base on the pitch, scored on Jonathan Arauz’s single in the third to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Arauz took second on the throw, but was left stranded as Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor were retired.
The Mets were robbed of a run the previous inning when Richie Palacios reached above the center-field fence to deprive DJ Stewart of a homer.
Goldschmidt’s RBI single in the third tied it 1-1. Tommy Edman and Alec Burleson singled in succession before Goldschmidt delivered.
Carrasco escaped further damage by striking out Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
Pete Alonso’s fourth homer in five games gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the fourth against Dakota Hudson.
Alonso’s homer was his 39th — leaving him four behind Shohei Ohtani and Matt Olson, who are tied for the MLB lead with 43.
Alonso’s blast into the left-field mezzanine had an exit velocity of 113.5 mph.
Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-12 in the first three games of the series, put the Mets in a 3-2 hole with his homer after Burleson doubled leading off the fifth.
Carrasco was immediately removed.
Gott recorded only one out in the seventh and was removed after allowing four runs on four hits and a walk. Jordan Walker’s double brought in two runs and the Cardinals extended their lead to 7-2 on Palacios’ two run single.
In the eighth, Francisco Alvarez delivered a two-out RBI single, but Alonso was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from first on the play after Tyler O’Neill misplayed the ball in left field.
“I just like the way our guys, the intensity they are playing with,” Showalter said. “Not just the young players looking to make an impression, but even the veteran players. It really bodes well for our future.”
