Wainwright pitches into fifth inning in Cards' loss
Wong, Jay contribute second-inning RBI knocks against split-squad Mets
JUPITER, Fla. -- In a matchup of Opening Day starters, Mets lefty Jon Niese exited with elbow discomfort, while Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings in New York's 10-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium.
Niese tossed just two frames and 35 pitches before reliever Buddy Carlyle replaced him. He gave up two runs on three hits with a walk and no strikeouts.
Knotted at 3 in the sixth, Taylor Teagarden singled off righty Keith Butler with the bases loaded to score one. Cory Vaughn, who collected four RBIs, drove in a pair with a two-out single.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Wainwright balk. Daniel Murphy doubled with one out and moved to third on Chris Young's infield single before Wainwright's balk advanced both runners.
"Somebody yelled time, and like an idiot I stopped," Wainwright said about the balk, adding that he thought it may have been Yadier Molina. "You should never stop just in case. Usually when someone calls time, it's the umpire. I just assumed it was. I was trying to keep the runner close, so I was watching him and as I look up, he breaks and then I'm going and I stopped when I heard time. That was my fault."
Vaughn blasted the first pitch from Wainwright for a two-run homer to left with two outs in the second.
St. Louis got two runs on three hits off Niese in the second. Allen Craig singled and Niese walked Stephen Piscotty. Kolten Wong and Jon Jay knocked back-to-back RBI singles up the middle.
Jhonny Peralta evened it with a one-out RBI single to left in the fifth off righty Kyle Farnsworth. Randal Grichuk led off the frame with a double and moved to third on Matt Carpenter's groundout to first.
Up next: Righty Shelby Miller will make his third spring start at 12:05 p.m. CT in Fort Myers, Fla., in a rematch of last year's World Series against the Red Sox. Miller has given up three runs on six hits over five innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. Closer Trevor Rosenthal as well as lefties Tim Cooney, Tyler Lyons and Lee Stoppelman are also scheduled to pitch.