Mets bid to halt modest skid in opener vs. Cardinals

It took almost three weeks for the New York Mets to lose consecutive games.

The Mets will look to snap their first skid of the season on Thursday night when they host the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a four-game series.

Griffin Canning (1-1, 4.20 ERA), who was scratched from his scheduled Wednesday start due to illness, is expected to take the mound for New York on Thursday against fellow right-hander Andre Pallante (2-0, 2.20).

Both teams played the rubber match of their respective three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. The visiting Mets fell to the Minnesota Twins 4-3 in 10 innings, while the host Cardinals posted a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros.

With the loss, the Mets became the final team in the majors to suffer back-to-back defeats this season. But New York had a chance to continue its unusual streak Wednesday after mounting a game-tying, three-run rally in the eighth, which ended when Harrison Bader made a diving catch in left field to rob Tyrone Taylor of what likely would have been the go-ahead hit.

Juan Soto struck out in the ninth to strand Francisco Lindor at first base. The Mets squandered a prime opportunity in the 10th, when they had two on and nobody out before Jesse Winker grounded into a double play and Brandon Nimmo popped out on consecutive pitches.

"It was really good to get back in the game," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "But overall we couldn't close the deal today. We couldn't get the job done. We've got to play better."

The Cardinals found little to be unhappy about following a 4-2 homestand in which they won series against the Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, each of whom won division titles last season.

Former Mets pitcher Steven Matz and four relievers combined on a four-hitter Wednesday for the Cardinals, who outscored the Phillies and Astros 22-10 over the last six games.

Lars Nootbaar's three-run blast off Ronel Blanco in the fifth inning also continued a trend of timely big hits for St. Louis, which hit four homers during the homestand -- including three of the multi-run variety.

"Obviously, you like taking four out of six here at home, but I like how we're doing it," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday. "We faced a good arm (Hunter Brown in Tuesday's 2-0 loss), and we faced another one today, and we just continue to grind out at-bats, and then we got the big hit. We continue to play solid baseball."

Canning earned his first win for the Mets last Friday, when he allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings as New York beat the Athletics 7-6. Pallante also recorded the victory last Friday for the Cardinals in a 2-0 victory over the Phillies.

Canning is 2-1 with a 4.41 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals. Pallante is 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA in eight games (one start) against the Mets.

--Field Level Media