The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals meet Friday night at Citi Field for the second game of a four-game series that pits two teams trending in opposite directions early in the 2025 season. The Mets enter with an 11–6 record and have looked increasingly confident behind dominant pitching and timely hitting, while the Cardinals sit at 8–9 and continue searching for consistent performances on both sides of the ball. Kodai Senga takes the mound for New York and has emerged as a front-runner in the early Cy Young conversation, boasting a 2–1 record with a dazzling 1.06 ERA through three starts. Senga’s command of his signature “ghost fork” has baffled hitters across the league and will likely be a nightmare matchup for a St. Louis lineup that has struggled with pitch recognition and timely contact. Opposing him is Miles Mikolas, who has been the inverse of Senga in terms of effectiveness, carrying an 0–2 record with a bloated 9.00 ERA, and frequently finding himself in trouble due to elevated pitches and a lack of swing-and-miss offerings. The Mets’ offense, anchored by Pete Alonso and supported by Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, has done just enough to consistently complement its pitching, averaging 4.3 runs per game while grinding out at-bats and capitalizing on mistakes. Alonso, with a .365 average and .730 slugging percentage, remains one of the league’s most dangerous power threats and will be eager to jump on Mikolas early. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will need to flip the script quickly if they’re to contend with the Mets in this series, starting with more reliable pitching.

Mikolas has not yet shown the form that made him a dependable mid-rotation piece in prior seasons, and if he cannot give the team five or six solid innings, the pressure will once again fall to a bullpen that has been shaky and inconsistent. Offensively, the Cardinals do have some bright spots, most notably Brendan Donovan, who is batting .380 and providing consistent contact and quality at-bats at the top of the lineup. However, with streaky production from core veterans like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis has struggled to string together runs and often falters in high-leverage spots. Their defense, while typically a strength, has been merely average this year, compounding the team’s issues by allowing extra opportunities to opponents that a team like the Mets rarely lets go unpunished. Manager Oliver Marmol will likely look to spark energy through aggressive baserunning and lineup shuffles, but the margin for error against a team as well-rounded and in-form as New York is razor-thin. Friday’s contest appears tilted heavily in favor of the Mets, particularly with Senga’s dominance and the Cardinals’ recent issues on the mound, but baseball’s unpredictability means the game could turn on a handful of key moments. If the Cardinals can get to Senga early—perhaps by drawing walks, working counts, and putting pressure on him with runners aboard—they might be able to shift the momentum and force New York into the bullpen earlier than expected. Conversely, if Mikolas cannot contain the Mets’ offense in the early innings, the Cardinals risk falling into a hole too deep to climb out of. This matchup, rich in narrative and contrasting trajectories, offers a chance for the Mets to continue asserting their NL East ambitions, and for the Cardinals to show they still have fight left in a season that’s already begun to test their resilience. Expect a crowd buzzing with energy and two teams with very different motivations for needing a win—but only one with the firepower, at least for now, to control the game from the first pitch.