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Johan Santana allowed just two runs over seven innings and his offense scored him just enough for the win Thursday as the Mets topped the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 to take three-of-four during the teams’ series at Citi Field.
Roster returnee Nick Evans notched another clutch hit with a fourth-inning 2-RBI double that gave Mets their second and third runs.
Just one of the runs Santana yielded was earned, as he threw nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes while giving up seven hits and three walks. He lost his no-hitter in the first inning when Skip Schumaker singled to left to make it 7,553 New York Mets games without a no-no.
The Mets scored all their runs in the fourth during a rally kicked off with back-to-back singles by Luis Castillo and David Wright. After Wright was thrown out on a Ryan Church fielder’s choice, leaving runners on first and third, Fernando Tatis singled home Castillo to tie the game at 1.
Tatis and Church advanced to second and third on Fernando Martinez’s ground-out, and Evans’ double to right scored them both.
The Mets got another solid outing from their bullpen, with Pedro Feliciano setting up the save for Francisco Rodriguez, who got number 20 despite walking two.