PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla — The Cardinals were roughed up for the second day in succession and, in losing 9-2 to Miami on Saturday and 7-3 to the New York Mets here on Sunday, they have been victimized by three multi-run homers, two of them after bad walks.
Matthew Liberatore walked Jeff McNeil, the first hitter he faced in the seventh inning Sunday and Francisco Lindor followed with a monstrous homer to left. Earlier in the game, starter Dakota Hudson had walked light-hitting Travis Jankowski with two out and nobody on in the second inning and Tomas Nido shot a two-run homer with the wind to right, making a one-run inning a three-run frame.