1 of 3 | New York Mets' Yoenis Cespedes touches third base after hitting a three run home run in the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI |
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April 25 (UPI) -- New York Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes hit his longest home run of the season in a 6-5 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cespedes smacked the long ball on Tuesday at Busch Stadium. He stepped into the box in the top of the fifth inning against Cardinals right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver. The Mets trailed the Cardinals 4-1 with two outs in the frame. Wilmer Flores and Michael Conforto were standing on first and second.
Cespedes worked a 3-1 count against Weaver, drawing the green light for his fifth offering of the at-bat. Weaver then tossed in an 84.3-mph changeup. Cespedes turned on the pitch, pulling it on a line drive to left field. The shot cleared the fence for an estimated 463-foot homer, according to Statcast. The ball left the park at 115.1 mph.
The homer was the Mets' longest since 2015.
"In that at-bat, he was losing the strike zone with the fastball, so I was hoping to catch a changeup," Cespedes told reporters. "Then, I caught it. And I hit it."
Paul Dejong hit an RBI double in the bottom of the inning, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. Adrian Gonzalez brought in Todd Frazier on an RBI double, tying the game in the top of the eighth inning. Jay Bruce brought in the go-ahead run with a solo shot in the top of the tenth inning.
Cespedes went 1-for-5 on the day, with three RBIs, two strikeouts and a run scored. He is now hitting .195 on the season, with five home runs, 21 RBIs and a league-high 39 strikeouts.
"I think that's the day we've been waiting on, to get those guys [Bruce, Cespedes] going," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "They came out early today, took early BP [batting practice] on the field ... hit for a very long time. They are out there to win and they got the job done tonight."