Coverage of today's Cards and Mets can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 11:35am.

Flushing,  NY (SportsNetwork.com) - St. Louis pitcher Michael Wacha recorded a 
career-high  10 strikeouts over four innings, but he also issued five walks -- 
two  of  them with the bases  loaded -- in the Cardinals' 3-2 loss to the New 
York Mets. 

It  was a wacky  Wednesday night for Wacha (2-2), whose first nine outs of the 
game  came  via strikeout.  The  right-hander  walked  home  two runs  in  the 
fourth,  however,  to put the Cardinals  behind. Wacha exited after 93 pitches 
and set a career low for innings pitched in a start. 

Lucas Duda hit a solo homer for the Mets, who saw starter Jon Niese (1-2) give 
up one run on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. 

"You  know, we've been  playing well," said Niese. "I think we can always play 
better.  I think there's  a lot of games that got away from us, and our record 
could be better. I look forward to good things to come." 

Trailing  3-1, the Cardinals  almost made a comeback in the ninth. Jon Jay and 
Matt  Carpenter hit  consecutive one-out  singles off  Kyle Farnsworth  before 
pinch-  hitter Daniel  Descalso followed  with a  double to  left-center field 
which  easily scored Jay.  Carpenter also tried to score but was tagged out at 
the plate. The call was confirmed via video replay. 

"Perfect  throw, perfect throw," said Carpenter. "The only chance they have is 
to make two perfect throws, and they were able to do it." 

Matt  Holliday  then flied out  to end the  game, giving Farnsworth his second 
save of the season. 

Earlier,  Yadier Molina's RBI  double in the first inning gave St. Louis a 1-0 
lead. 

The  Mets figured out  Wacha in the fourth. Chris Young reached on a fielder's 
choice,  Duda  walked and Travis  d'Arnaud singled to  load the bases with one 
out.  Ruben Tejada  then drew a walk to  force in a run and after Niese struck 
out looking, Wacha walked Kirk Nieuwenhuis to plate another run. 

Duda led off the sixth with a homer off Seth Maness, making it 3-1 New York. 

St.  Louis put men  on second and third with one out in the eighth, but Jhonny 
Peralta popped out and pinch-hitter Matt Adams flied out to end the threat. 

                                   Game Notes 

Niese improved to 4-1 lifetime against the Cardinals ... St. Louis fell to 5-5 
on  an 11-game  road trip ... New  York improved to 3-3 on a 10-game homestand 
... Molina, who went 3-for-3, extended his hitting streak to 14 games.