Coverage of today's Cards and Mets game can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 6:40pm.

St.  Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Allen Craig went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a  run scored  as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Mets, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game set.

Jon  Jay  posted two hits and  scored three runs,  while Matt Adams had a run-scoring  triple among his  two hits and two RBI for the red-hot Cardinals, who have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.

Nick Greenwood (1-0) was credited with the victory after tossing 3 1/3 innings of  one-run ball  in place of starter Carlos Martinez, who yielded an unearned run on two hits and four walks over four frames.

Seth  Maness  notched his first  save of the  season after recording the final four outs.

Jacob  deGrom (0-4)  was shelled for six runs  on 12 hits and two walks over 4 1/3 frames for New York, which has dropped 10 of its last 13 contests.

The  game was  tied 1-1 before the Cardinals plated a run in the third inning and four more in the fifth.

Jay  hit  a one-out single in  the third and  after Matt Holliday flied out to right,  Craig lined  a base hit to  left-center to put runners on the corners. Adams dumped a single into right to bring home Jay, but Craig was later thrown out  at  the plate on  Yadier Molina's  base hit through  the hole on the left
side.

Jay  cracked  a one-out double  in the fifth before  coming around to score on Holliday's  single into  left-center for  a 3-1  lead. Craig  then scorched  a double  down the  left-field line to score Holliday and Adams tripled into the right-field  corner  to bring home  Craig. After Molina walked, Jhonny Peralta lined a base hit to right to score Adams and make it 6-1.

Chris Young's RBI single in the eighth cut the deficit to 6-2.

Earlier,  Craig's RBI  base hit  in the  first opened  the scoring  and Curtis Granderson lifted a sacrifice fly to center in the third to knot the contest.

                                   Game Notes

The Cardinals were 6-for-9 with runners  in scoring position, while New York finished 2-for-8 with RISP and left seven men on base ... Craig has 14 doubles and 37 RBI on the year.