Cardinals  3    Mets  0

Recap: NY Mets vs. St. Louis

Sports Network | June 23, 2009

Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Joel Pineiro pitched a two-hit shutout and went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the injury-plagued New York Mets, 3-0, in the second installment of a four-game set at Citi Field.

Pineiro (6-8) had one strikeout and one walk to collect the 11th career complete game of his career. Pineiro snapped a five-start skid to pick up his fifth career shutout. Pineiro's last win came on May 19 against the Cubs. He gave no runs and allowed just three hits that day in a shutout performance.

Brendan Ryan went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Cardinals, who have won four of their last five games. Albert Pujols had a two-run single, while Skip Schumaker went 2-for-3 and scored once.

Livan Hernandez (5-2) allowed three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits with three strikeouts and three walks over seven innings to take the loss. He is now 5-1 over his past 11 trips to the hill. The right-hander owns a 5-7 mark in 18 career appearances against the Cardinals.

Luis Castillo and pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed had the only hits for the Mets, who won 6-4 in the series opener on Monday.

The Mets' injury problems became worse on Monday, as center fielder Carlos Beltran was shelved because of a bone bruise in his right knee. First baseman Carlos Delgado (hip) and shortstop Jose Reyes (calf, hamstring) are already on the disabled list.

The Cardinals scored in the third inning. Pineiro started things with a double, while Ryan followed with a bunt single to put men on first and second. Schumaker then reached first on a fielder's choice. On the play, Pineiro scored on first baseman Daniel Murphy's throwing error.

An Albert Pujols intentional walk was sandwiched between a pair of outs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rick Ankiel stepped to the plate and had a 2-2 count when rain stopped play for 52 minutes. Ankiel flied out to right following the delay.

Meanwhile, Pineiro was cruising on the hill for St. Louis, retiring 15 of the first 16 batters that he faced.

The Cardinals plated a pair of runs in the seventh to extend their gap. Ryan singled, Schumaker doubled, and Chris Duncan walked to load the bases with one out. Pujols then hit a two-run single to left.

New York put a runner on first with one out in the seventh and ninth, but failed to capitalize both times.

New York went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, while St. Louis went 2-for-7 with RISP...The Cardinals swept the Mets in three games from April 21-24 this season at Busch Stadium and have won five of the last seven meetings between the teams.