Mets 3, Cardinals 2: Jonathon Niese was strong through 6 2/3 innings and host New York took advantage of Michael Wacha's wildness and got a big defensive play in the ninth to top St. Louis.

Lucas Duda homered and Ruben Tejada and Kirk Nieuwenhuis had RBIs for the Mets with bases-loaded walks. Niese (1-2) yielded one run and six hits while striking out three to improve to 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA in six career starts versus the Cardinals.

Wacha (2-2) recorded his first nine outs via strikeout and finished with a career-high 10, but he also walked a career-high five and needed 93 pitches to get through four innings, the shortest start of his career. Matt Carpenter had four hits and Yadier Molina was 3-for-3 with a first-inning RBI double for St. Louis, which aims for a split of the four-game series Thursday afternoon.

Wacha became the seventh pitcher all-time to record nine strikeouts in the first three innings but lost it in the fourth, as two hits and a walk loaded the bases before the right-hander issued free passes to Tejada and Nieuwenheis. Duda led off the bottom of the sixth with his fourth home run to make it 3-1.

St. Louis left two men in scoring position in the eighth but got back-to-back one-out singles in the ninth against Mets closer Kyle Farnsworth. Daniel Descalso followed with a double to left-center to score one, but Carpenter was thrown out on a great relay home, and after a review upheld the call, Matt Holliday flied to right to end it and give Farnsworth his second save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Molina is batting .429 during a 14-game hitting streak. ... Duda's homer was the first in eight home games for New York. ... The Mets' bullpen has allowed two runs in the last 15 2/3 innings.