ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pete Alfonso hit a two-run homer. José Quintana won for the first time this season and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Thursday night to open a four-game series.
Quintana (1-4) beat his former team by pitching into the seventh inning. He gave up three hits, including a homer in the seventh to Tyler O’Neill, and two runs. It was his first time facing the Cardinals since signing with the Mets as a free agent in the offseason.
Tim Locastro led off the ninth with a pinch-hit home run, his first this season for New York. It was the third one of his career.
Trevor Gott pitched the ninth for his first save. He got Paul Goldschmidt looking with two on to end the game.
The Mets have won four of their past five games.
The loss denied Adam Wainwright (3-8) a chance to pick up career win No. 199. But it was a better outing for the 41-year-old right-hander, who is in his final season.
Wainwright, plagued by injuries and ineffectiveness this season, pitched six innings, throwing 93 pitches. Wainwright, who turns 42 on Aug. 30, allowed three runs on four hits in his third-longest outing this season.
In his last outing, Wainwright allowed eight runs in one inning in the shortest start of his career against Kansas City.
Alonso hit 3-2 sinker 437 feet into the center field grass, scoring Jeff McNeil for a 2-0 lead in the fourth. It was Alonso’s 37th homer of the season and gave him 91 RBIs.
Quintana loaded the bases in the fourth on a single and two walks with two outs. A force out ended the threat.
The Mets added a run in the fifth when Franciso Lindor doubled home Rafael Ortega, extending New York’s lead to 3-0.
The Cardinals chased Quintana in the seventh. After the leadoff homer by O’Neill, Jordan Walker walked and Andrew Knizner singled. Drew Smith relieved and gave up a sacrifice fly before getting two ground outs.
ARENADO ACHIEVEMENT
Nolan Arenado appeared in his 1,500th career game Thursday, becoming only the eighth player in major league history to have 320-plus home runs, 350-plus doubles, 1,000-plus RBI, and 3,000-plus total bases in his first 1,500 career games. The milestone was last achieved by Albert Pujols from 2001-10 with St. Louis.
ROSTER MOVE
Mets: Selected OF Abraham Almonte from Triple-A Syracuse. He hit .244 in 167 plate appearances in the minors. He was recently designated for assignment after hitting .091 across 12 MLB at-bats, but ended up back in the Mets system after going unclaimed on waivers.
Cardinals: Recalled outfielder Richie Palacios, a native of Brooklyn, from Triple-A Memphis. The 26-year-old Palacios, who joined the Cardinals organization via trade with Cleveland in June, hit .299 with five homers and 32 walks in 40 games with the Redbirds this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: INF Mark Vientos (left wrist tendonitis) has been placed on the 10-day Injured List, retroactive to Wednesday.… LHP Josh Walker (oblique) has been transferred to the 60-Day IL.
Cardinals: Placed Nolan Gorman (lower back strain) on the 10-day Injured List back dates to Monday. Gorman received an injection Thursday for the inflammation in his back. He hasn’t played since Saturday. … St. Louis CF Lars Nootbaar (lower abdominal contusion) left Wednesday’s game after being hit by a foul ball that bounced back and hit him while batting. He is day to day.
UP NEXT
Cardinals LHP Zack Thompson (2-4, 3.96) was set to make his first career appearance against the Mets on Friday. New York had not announced a starter.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
