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Jul 27, 2010 - 10:48 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

St. Louis (55-44) at New York (50-49), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Frustration is mounting for the punchless New York Mets, and a meeting with Adam Wainwright and the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals seems unlikely to alleviate it.

The Mets try to begin putting a terrible road trip behind them when they open a three-game series against Wainwright and the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

New York (50-49) capped a 2-9 trip with Sunday's 1-0 loss to Los Angeles. The difficult stretch was highlighted by an offense that hit .196 and scored 23 runs while getting shutout four times.

The Mets have been held to four runs or fewer in 15 of 16 games, going 4-12.

"There's no question that everybody's frustrated," said third baseman David Wright, who hit .182 with a homer and three RBIs on the trip. "I think it adds to the frustration that our starters have been throwing the ball extremely well and our bullpen's been solid. We just can't get any runs for them. But now is not the time to hang your head or mope around."

The Mets have dropped to third in the NL East, 7 1/2 games behind Atlanta.

Manager Jerry Manuel feels a return to Citi Field, where New York is 30-16, can jump-start the offense.

"I feel that our ballpark - despite what people say - we feel that it's a hitting park," Manuel told the team's official website. "And I just think once we score a couple of runs, I think we'll be good to go for a long, long period of time."

Manuel, though, won't be at the park Tuesday. He was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount following an ejection from a game last week. Bench coach Dave Jauss will fill in.

The Mets will also be without left fielder Jason Bay, who has been diagnosed with a mild concussion and is out of the lineup for at least a few days. Bay hurt himself when he crashed into the wall Friday night while making a catch at Dodger Stadium.

New York went 4-2 against St. Louis (55-44) at home last year behind a .335 average. However, the Mets may have trouble getting the bats going against Wainwright (14-5, 1.94 ERA), second in baseball in wins and ERA and among the league leaders with 136 strikeouts.

The right-hander is 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA over his last five starts and hasn't allowed a run in 25 consecutive innings.

Wainwright was impressive again Thursday, scattering six hits while striking out six in six innings of a 2-0, 11-inning loss to Philadelphia.

He was superb in his only career start against the Mets on April 18, tossing a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 5-3 home win as St. Louis took two of three in that series.

The Cardinals enter this series with some momentum after Felipe Lopez homered in the 11th inning Sunday night to help St. Louis win 4-3 at Chicago and avoid a three-game sweep.

The Mets will turn to Jonathon Niese (6-4, 3.54), who is familiar with the offense's shortcomings. The left-hander has received four runs of support over his last three starts, going 0-2 with a 3.20 ERA. He was 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA in his previous six outings.

Niese served up three solo homers while striking out six in five innings of a 4-3, 14-inning loss at Arizona on Wednesday.

He'll face St. Louis for the first time since Aug. 5, when a torn right hamstring forced him to exit with two outs in the first and ended his season.