After winning back-to-back games for the first time since June 1, the New York Mets are finally showing signs of moving in the right direction.
Can’t say the same for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tylor Megill earned his first win since last month, slumping Daniel Vogelbach homered in his return to the lineup and the Mets beat the skidding Cardinals 6-1 on Friday night in a series opener between two of baseball’s most disappointing teams.
Brett Baty hit a two-run double off Miles Mikolas in a three-run first inning, and Tommy Pham added a pair of two-out RBI singles against his former team as the $355 million Mets (33-36) won their second straight since losing nine of 10.
Willson Contreras homered for the Cardinals (27-43), who have dropped six in a row and 13 of 16. After winning the NL Central last season, St. Louis has the worst record in the National League and is off to its worst start in 45 years.
Megill (6-4) allowed four hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking none for his first victory since May 18 against Tampa Bay. He was 0-2 in his previous four outings, including a dreadful performance last Friday in Pittsburgh.
Mikolas (4-4) lost his third consecutive start after winning his previous four decisions. The veteran right-hander permitted six runs and eight hits in six innings.
Vogelbach snapped an 0-for-12 slide with his third homer in the sixth, making it 6-1 with a solo shot deep into the second deck in right field. It was his first long ball in 53 at-bats since May 7 at Colorado.
Dominic Leone and Josh Walker combined for three innings of one-hit relief on Pride Night at Citi Field to finish a game that took just 2 hours, 1 minute. It was the fastest nine-inning Mets game since a 3-0 win at Miami in 1:59 on May 19, 2019.
New York loaded the bases with none out in the first. Cleanup hitter Francisco Lindor grounded into a 1-2-3 double play, but Baty doubled home two runs and Pham followed with an RBI single.
UP NEXT
Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (2-1, 5.79 ERA) starts Saturday in the middle game of the series against rookie RHP Kodai Senga (6-3, 3.34).