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Craig leads surging Cards past Mets

Jun 17, 2014 - 5:12 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Allen Craig went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Mets, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game set.

Jon Jay posted two hits and scored three runs, while Matt Adams had a run- scoring triple among his two hits and two RBI for the red-hot Cardinals, who have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.

Nick Greenwood (1-0) was credited with the victory after tossing 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his MLB debut in place of starter Carlos Martinez, who yielded an unearned run on two hits and four walks over four frames.

"He's had a good season in Triple-A which has given him this opportunity," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Greenwood.

Seth Maness notched his first save of the season after recording the final four outs.

Jacob deGrom (0-4) was shelled for six runs on 12 hits and two walks over 4 1/3 frames for New York, which has dropped 10 of its last 13 contests.

"You got to make pitches against a team as good as they are. One of those nights," Mets manager Terry Collins said of deGrom.

The game was tied 1-1 before the Cardinals plated a run in the third inning and four more in the fifth.

Jay hit a one-out single in the third and after Matt Holliday flied out to right, Craig lined a base hit to left-center to put runners on the corners. Adams dumped a single into right to bring home Jay, but Craig was later thrown out at the plate on Yadier Molina's base hit through the hole on the left side.

Jay cracked a one-out double in the fifth before coming around to score on Holliday's single into left-center for a 3-1 lead. Craig then scorched a double down the left-field line to score Holliday and Adams tripled into the right-field corner to bring home Craig. After Molina walked, Jhonny Peralta lined a base hit to right to score Adams and make it 6-1.

Chris Young's RBI single in the eighth cut the deficit to 6-2.

Earlier, Craig's RBI base hit in the first opened the scoring and Curtis Granderson lifted a sacrifice fly to center in the third to knot the contest.

Game Notes

The Cardinals were 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position, while New York finished 2-for-8 with RISP and left seven men on base ... Craig has 14 doubles and 37 RBI on the year ... Holliday's RBI in the fifth was the 1,000th of his career.