NEW YORK -- Nineteen hours after halting play amidst a rain storm, the Mets not only lost a 5-4 game to the Cardinals, but also received further evidence that their lockdown closer is mortal.

After play resumed from Thursday’s suspended game at Citi Field, the Mets went down in order in the bottom of the ninth. In the top of the 10th, closer Edwin Díaz returned to the mound, gave up a leadoff single, a stolen base and -- with a runner on third, and first base open -- a go-ahead RBI single to Paul DeJong. The Mets again went down quietly in the 10th to put an end to a game that started 23 and a half hours earlier.

• Box score

Diaz had blown a two-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday to necessitate the suspended game. Over his last 17 appearances dating to April, he has three blown saves, four losses, a .304 opponents’ batting average and a 5.29 ERA.

“Anytime you blow a lead, you’ve got to win those games,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “You’ve got to win them if you’re a good team. We didn’t get the job done.”

It was a quick ending to a contest that nearly came to an end the night before, until rain interfered. The Mets took a two-run lead into the ninth thanks to Jacob deGrom's seven strong innings, Michael Conforto's two-run homer and Dominic Smith's go-ahead RBI single in the sixth. After deGrom exited, Seth Lugo pitched a scoreless eighth to take the Mets within three outs of a victory that would boost them back to .500 for the first time since May 26, and Diaz started warming.

By that point, the front edge of a storm had rolled into Citi Field. As Diaz prepared to make his warmup pitches for the top of the ninth, grounds crew members jogged out to the field hauling bags of Diamond Dry, hoping to make the infield playable enough for three more outs.

The rain kept coming, though, forcing umpires to call for the tarp -- until the rain stopped, that is, and the tarp went back into storage.

“If you can get the game in and you're playing in the conditions that are suitable to play in, I think you try to do that,” crew chief Jeff Kellogg said. “But once it became where it’s not, then I think you’ve got to say, ‘OK, let’s stop.’ It wasn't an easy one.”

“They did all they could,” Callaway said. “They’re trying to get a game in. That’s their responsibility. I think they did everything they could.”

Conditions were not ideal for Diaz, who endured a lengthy delay before taking the mound, then walked the leadoff batter on five pitches. With two outs, Kolten Wong hit an RBI single and Harrison Bader followed with game-tying double. The Mets might have had a play at the plate, but Amed Rosario dropped Carlos Gomez’s relay throw, allowing Wong to score without much drama. Bader then stumbled on his way to third, allowing Diaz to escape the inning.

Rain grew heavier from there, prompting the grounds crew to bring the tarp out one more time and, ultimately, for umpires to suspend the game shortly before 11 p.m. ET on Thursday. The teams waited another 19 hours before resuming play.