ST. LOUIS — After four hours of baseball the proverbial blind squirrels found an acorn Sunday, but it turned out more than one was needed.
In a rare meltdown, Mets closer Jeurys Familia — who hadn’t pitched in a week — blew a save in the 13th before the blind squirrels found two additional acorns in the 18th and beat the Cardinals 3-1 at Busch Stadium in 5 hours, 55 minutes.
The game was the Mets’ longest since losing 2-1 in 20 innings to the Marlins on June 8, 2013, at Citi Field.
Ruben Tejada broke the 1-1 deadlock with a sacrifice fly in the 18th after the Mets had loaded the bases with nobody out against Carlos Martinez, a starting pitcher pressed into service because the Cardinals were without remaining relievers.