Mets again a game shy of .500 with 11-1 rout of Cardinals

The Mets’ offense built Mike Pelfrey a 9-0 lead by the third inning Thursday night en route to an 11-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Any hope of the elusive Mets no-hitter was quashed in the first inning when Chris Duncan singled to center. That marked the 7,405th franchise game without a no-no.

But Pelfrey pitched great to improve to 6-6, yielding just one earned run and six hits in seven innings of work.

Jose Reyes went 1-for-4, but his lone hit was a base-clearing triple. Carlos Delgado had a homer and sacrifice fly for three RBIs.

The Mets begin a weekend series with the first-place Philadelphia Phillies on Friday with the hopes of making up some of the 4 1/2 games back.