Cardinals 5, Mets 2
Michael Wacha tossed six solid innings and Jon Jay ripped a go-ahead RBI triple with two outs in the fifth as host St. Louis posted its fifth straight victory.
Yadier Molina homered to lead off the second inning and Matt Holliday added an RBI double for the Cardinals, who improved to 14-4 in their last 18 home meetings with New York. Pinch hitter Kolten Wong added an RBI single in the sixth after a mental miscue by Mets first baseman Lucas Duda extended the inning.
David Wright belted his first homer since May 28 to lead off the fourth for the Mets, who have dropped 11 of their last 14 overall and fell to 13-30 in St. Louis since 2001. Duda followed suit with a blast to lead off the ninth, but Pat Neshek retired all three batters he faced for his second save.
After the teams traded solo shots, Jay hit a first-pitch curveball from Jonathon Niese (3-4) down the first-base line before his considerable speed landed him on third. He didn't wait there long as Holliday followed by ripping a shot to nearly the same spot to give the Cardinals a 3-1 advantage.
St. Louis added two more in the sixth with the aid of some shoddy defense by New York and Wacha (5-5) improved to 5-0 at home after allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven. Niese permitted five runs - three earned - on eight hits in six innings to take the loss.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Mets 2B Daniel Murphy was charged with an error after dropping a soft pop-up, but his throw to first would have gotten St. Louis' Daniel Descalso to end the sixth inning had Duda remained on the base. Wong followed with an RBI single to center field. ... Jay is 4-for-8 with four runs scored in the series. ... Wright's homer was just his second in St. Louis (July 1, 2008) and first on the road since going deep against Philadelphia on Sept. 21, 2013.