Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jeff McNeil had a three-run shot and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 on Friday night for their third straight victory.

Joey Lucchesi (2-0) settled in after St. Louis loaded the bases against him in the first ininng and allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his first major league start since May 13 at Washington.

Nimmo drove the third pitch he saw from Zack Thompson (2-5) into the center-field bleachers for his 18th home run. It was his fourth leadoff home run this season and the 11th of his career, and gave him a 10-game hitting streak.

Thompson allowed two runs on six hits and walked a batter in five innings in his second major league start of the season for the Cardinals. They dropped their third straight.

Francisco Lindor hit a two-out single, advanced to second when Francisco Alvarez walked and scored on Jeff McNeil’s single up the middle to expand the Mets’ lead to 2-0 in the third inning.

McNeil hit his sixth home run of the season to right field off James Naile to cap a five-run seventh inning that saw the Mets pull ahead 7-0.

“Nobody hit for a higher average than him in the world last year at the highest level,” Showalter said. “It’s been some good days, and I’m glad to see him get a reminder of how good he is.”

Richie Palacios hit a two-out RBI double to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to spoil the Mets’ bid for their sixth shutout of the season.

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Mets RHP Kodai Senga (9-6, 3.30 ERA) was set to start Saturday against RHP Miles Mikolas (6-8, 4.27 ERA).