Cards fall in 20 innings

ST. LOUIS -- Jose Reyes hit a sacrifice fly in the 20th inning and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Saturday night in the longest game in the majors in two years.

Jeff Francoeur also had a sacrifice fly for New York in the 19th inning, snapping a scoreless tie, but Yadier Molina singled in Albert Pujols with two out in the bottom half.

Francisco Rodriguez (1-0) got the win despite yielding the tying run in the 19th and starter Mike Pelfrey finished for his first career save in a game that included 19 pitchers and lasted 6 hours, 53 minutes.

It was the longest game in the majors since Colorado beat San Diego 2-1 in 22 innings April 17, 2008.

St. Louis left the bases loaded in the 10th, 12th and 14th and stranded 22 runners, including 14 in extra innings. Molina caught the whole game and went 3 for 9.

It was the longest scoreless game in the majors since the Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos went 21 innings without a run Aug. 23, 1989, according to STATS LLC. The Dodgers won that one 1-0 on Rick Dempsey's leadoff homer in the 22nd.

Utilityman Joe Mather (0-1) became the first position player to lose a game since shortstop Josh Wilson for the San Diego Padres in a 9-6 setback in 18 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last June 7.

Mather hit for Colby Rasmus in the 10th and played center and third before taking the mound in the 20th for his first major league pitching appearance.

The Mets jumped all over him.

Angel Pagan started the 20th with an infield single and advanced to third on Mike Jacobs' base hit to right. Reyes followed with a fly ball to center field to give New York a 2-1 lead.

It was the Mets' longest game since they lost 4-3 to St. Louis in 25 innings Sept. 11, 1974, and the fourth longest in franchise history by innings.

It was tied for the second longest in Cardinals history.

Johan Santana started the game for New York and struck out nine in seven innings, allowing just four hits.

Rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia gave up just one hit in seven innings for St. Louis -- a bloop single by Pagan leading off the sixth. Infielder Felipe Lopez also pitched a scoreless inning for the Cardinals.