Moss belts 2 of Cards’ 4 HRs in loss to Mets

ST. LOUIS — A stay in St. Louis did the Mets well, as they left town following Thursday night’s 10-6 victory in better National League Wild Card position than when they arrived. Capping an evening in which Seth Lugo secured his first Major League win and the offense piled on by taking advantage of a shoddy Cardinals defense, the Mets won the series and moved to within 3 1/2 games of St. Louis in the Wild Card standings.

Lugo outpitched Adam Wainwright, whose start was compounded by plays not made behind him. A pair of errors led to five of the seven runs Wainwright surrendered being unearned. Alejandro De Aza helped the Mets capitalize after both of those miscues, driving in two with a fourth-inning single and then blowing the game open with a three-run blast in the fifth.

The support was sufficient for Lugo, who was hardly impeded until a right calf cramp forced him out of the game as he warmed up for the sixth. Leading up to that, Lugo had worked around two singles and three walks to cover five dominant innings in his second Major League start.

It was not nearly so smooth for Wainwright, who couldn’t pitch past the fifth for the third time in five starts. Though the results could have been much different without the defensive issues behind him, Wainwright was hardly sharp. He surrendered nine hits and has given up 23 runs (18 earned) over his last four starts.

The Cardinals’ offense came much too late and almost entirely via home runs. Brandon Moss drove in three runs with his second multi-homer game this season. Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty added solo homers in the ninth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDYou go, Lugo: With their rotation depleted by injuries …

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