Cardinals 6, Mets 3
ST. LOUIS -- Lance Lynn persevered despite early control problems and got some late help from the St. Louis offense to get back into the win column.
Matt Carpenter hit a tiebreaking, seventh-inning single off the leg of reliever Scott Rice, and Matt Holliday added a two-run homer in the inning, and the Cardinals knocked off the New York Mets 6-3 Monday night.
Lynn (6-1) survived five walks and a season-high 124 pitches over seven innings. Three relievers combined to pick up the last six outs, with Edward Mujica earning his 10th save.
With the game even at 3-3, pinch hitter Ty Wigginton doubled to shallow center in the seventh, hustling for the extra base when the ball rolled out of the glove of diving center fielder Rick Ankiel.
Carpenter then lashed the first pitch off Rice (1-3), the ball rolling into foul ground between home and first. With no one covering the plate, Wigginton rumbled around third and beat Rice's late tag.
Two batters later, Holliday greeted Scott Atchison with a 425-foot homer into the seats in left-center, his sixth homer of the season.
It was a walk-fest early as both starting pitchers -- Lynn and the Mets' Jeremy Hefner -- struggled with their command. They combined for 12 three-ball counts, eight by Lynn, and nine walks in the first five innings.
St. Louis (24-13) touched Hefner for two runs in the bottom of the first. Allen Craig lashed a double that bounced into the seats down the left field line to score Carpenter, and Jon Jay's sacrifice fly to left plated Holliday.
New York (14-21) responded with three in its half of the second, all with two outs. Daniel Murphy laced a two-run double to right-center field as Carlos Beltran appeared to lose the ball in the setting sun. Murphy scored from second on David Wright's infield single that trickled off the glove of shortstop Daniel Descalso.
Carpenter evened the score at 3 in the Cardinals' second with an RBI single.
NOTES: The Mets signed Ankiel on Monday, three days after his release from Houston. He batted .194 with five homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games for the Astros. ... To make room for Ankiel, New York sent OF Andrew Brown down to Triple-A Las Vegas and transferred RHP Jenrry Mejia (elbow) to the 60-day disabled list. ... St. Louis entered Monday night with the majors' top batting average in May at .302, eight points ahead of the mark of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
