ST. LOUIS — Daniel Murphy took a few steps off third base and lingered there, crouching, looking toward home, his hands twitching. Wilmer Flores was up, with two outs in the 10th inning, and their teammates already looked tired, leaning against the dugout railings.
At the time, Murphy was about 80 feet from scoring in a scoreless game against the Cardinals. It must have felt like 800 feet. The Mets have been incapable of manufacturing runs in the most fundamental of ways. They finished Sunday’s 3-1 victory in 18 innings with one hit in 26 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and were on a 3 for 62 streak.