Slow and steady won the race against fast and filthy.
The Cardinals had stud Michael Wacha on the mound, mowing through the Mets as if they were overmatched Little Leaguers early in Wednesday's game at Citi Field, but Jon Niese kept pitching.
Even as Wacha recorded his first nine outs by strikeout, Niese continued grinding away. Wacha was done after four innings and 93 pitches, but Niese was just getting warmed up in the Mets' 3-2 victory over the Cardinals.
Niese (1-2) gave the Mets a second straight superb start by lasting 6 ²/₃ innings and allowing one run on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The Mets (11-10) won for the third time in four games and will go for the series victory on Thursday.
Kyle Farnsworth injected some drama into this one by surrendering an RBI double to Daniel Descalso in the ninth. Jon Jay scored on the play, but tying run Matt Carpenter was out at the plate on Ruben Tejada's peg to Travis d'Arnaud. The Cardinals challenged the play, but replay upheld plate umpire Marty Foster's call. Farnsworth then retired Matt Holliday to earn his second save in as many chances since moving into the closer's role.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, Carlos Torres and Scott Rice combined to pitch 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings in relief before manager Terry Collins gave the ball to Farnsworth. The Cardinals started their rally in the ninth with consecutive singles by Jay and Carpenter.
The wind gusted strong enough on Wednesday that Wacha's cap blew off in the second inning and tumbled to second baseman Mark Ellis, who made a clean scoop.
Wacha's final line included 10 strikeouts, three hits allowed and five walks. He was finished after facing eight batters in the fourth inning and allowing two runs on three walks and two hits.
Lucas Duda gave the Mets a 3-1 cushion with a solo homer in the sixth against Seth Maness. The blast was Duda's fourth of the season and first since his competition at first base, Ike Davis, was traded to the Pirates on Friday. It was also the Mets' first homer in their last eight games at Citi Field.
Wacha had a filthy curveball working and struck out nine batters through the first three innings. But each of those three-strikeout innings was interrupted by a base runner.
Most notably, Curtis Granderson singled in the first inning to snap a career-worst 0-for-22 drought. Granderson finished 1-for-3 with a walk and raised his average to .125.
The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on two walks with the bases loaded. Travis d'Arnaud's sharp single loaded the bases before Tejada walked to make it 1-1. Wacha then struck out Niese before walking Kirk Nieuwenhuis to bring in the inning's second run.
Tejada's confusion in the first inning led to the Cardinals scoring their first run instead of Niese escaping the inning. Daniel Murphy short-hopped Allen Craig's shot with one out and threw to second for the force.
Tejada stepped on the bag for the out, but instead of tagging Carpenter near the bag to complete a double play, appeared to believe the inning was over and flipped a throw to David Wright.
With the inning still alive, Yadier Molina stroked an RBI double that gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
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