Cardinals  3    Mets  0

St. Louis Cardinals (39-32) at New York Mets (35-33), 7:10 p.m.

Sports Network | June 23, 2009

(Sports Network) - With their big stars on the disabled list, the New York Mets got contributions from practically everyone in last night's victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series.

The two ballclubs will resume their set tonight at Citi Field.

First baseman Carlos Delgado (hip) and shortstop Jose Reyes (calf, hamstring) are already on the disabled list, and center fielder Carlos Beltran was shelved Monday because of a bone bruise in his right knee. In the 6-4 triumph over the Cards, Daniel Murphy homered and finished with two hits and two runs scored, while Omir Santos ended 4-for-4 with an RBI. Luis Castillo chipped in three hits, knocked in a run and scored twice for the Mets, who ended a two- game slide and pulled within 1 1/2 games of idle Philadelphia for the top spot in the NL East.

"We can't rely on that kind of offense every night," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said on the team's site. "Our pitching is what we have to rely on."

Alex Cora had two hits and two runs batted in, and Jeremy Reed went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in Beltran's place in center field. Starting pitcher Tim Redding benefited from the 14-hit attack and earned the win after seven innings of work, allowing four runs and five hits with four K's and one walk to help New York improve to 2-2 on a 10-game homestand and 20-13 as the host.

Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 19th save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Manuel will have to rely on tonight's starter Livan Hernandez, who last tasted defeat against these Cardinals on April 23 at Busch Stadium. In a 12-8 loss to St. Louis, Hernandez had his worst outing of the season and allowed seven runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Hernandez hasn't lost since, however, and is 5-0 over the past 10 trips to the hill. He did not factor in the outcome of a 5-4 loss at Baltimore the last time out on June 18, when he gave up two runs and eight hits in seven frames. With runners in scoring position this season, opponents are batting just .183 against Hernandez.

The right-hander, who is 2-0 in four home starts this season, owns a 5-6 mark with a 4.71 ERA in 17 career appearances against the Cardinals.

St. Louis entered this series fresh off a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, but couldn't keep the momentum going in New York. Ryan Ludwick homered and finished with two RBI, and Skip Schumaker knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who are one game ahead of Milwaukee for the NL Central lead.

Albert Pujols, who had three homers and 10 RBI in the KC series, was held to just a double and a run scored in defeat. Pujols, though, passed Phillies second baseman Chase Utley for the most All-Star votes for the National League.

Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer was saddled with the loss for permitting five runs and 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. He also walked four batters and struck out two to fall to 6-7 this season.

"I felt pretty good out there," Wellemeyer said on St. Louis' official Web site. "It's just that I'm not getting any breaks whatsoever. It's a cross between bad pitching and just bad luck. And that's not a good combo to go through. This is three months of it."

St. Louis, which is 3-1 on a seven-game road trip and 18-16 as the visitor, will roll the dice once again tonight on Joel Pineiro, who has lost five straight and eight of his last nine starts. Pineiro previously pitched on June 18 versus Detroit and was reached for four runs -- one earned -- and five hits over seven innings of work to fall to 5-8 this season, while actually lowering his earned run average from 3.99 to 3.76.

Pineiro, who is 2-5 in seven road starts, beat the Mets back on April 22 this season with eight strong innings of two-run ball in a 5-2 victory. The righty was in the midst of a personal four-game winning streak to open the season.

In four career starts against New York, Pineiro is 2-0 with a 3.96 ERA.

The Cardinals swept the Mets in three games from April 21-24 this season at Busch Stadium and have won four of the last six meetings between the teams.