Cards clobber struggling Mets

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Morris pitched six solid innings and Scott Rolen and Edgar Renteria each drove in four runs as the Cardinals beat the New York Mets 13-3 Tuesday night.

The struggling Mets began a six-game road trip looking just as awful as they did Sunday at Shea Stadium, when they made eight errors and struck out a record 27 times in a doubleheader sweep by Arizona.

Morris (2-2) gave up two runs and five hits with four strikeouts and one walk. He retired 11 consecutive batters before the Mets scored twice in the sixth on Mike Piazza's RBI double and Ty Wigginton's run-scoring triple -- which bounced out of the glove of center fielder Jim Edmonds at the wall.

Piazza had three hits for New York, which made two more errors. The Mets have lost three in a row and are in last place in the NL East at 11-15.

Rolen's two-run double highlighted a four-run first against Al Leiter (3-1), and he added a two-run single in a seven-run eighth. Renteria had an RBI double in the first, an RBI single in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth.

The Cardinals broke it open in the eighth against Graeme Lloyd and Jaime Cerda, who walked three straight -- including Albert Pujols with the bases loaded. Cerda also gave up an RBI single to rookie reliever Kiko Calero.

Morris has allowed seven earned runs in 35 2-3 innings in his last five starts, but is 2-2 during that stretch. He benefited from a handful of fielding gems as shortstop Renteria ranged into the hole and threw out Wigginton to end the first, saving two runs, and Edmonds tracked down Cliff Floyd's drive to the wall in the third.

Morris needed 33 pitches to get out of the first without damage as the Mets left the bases loaded, and that ended up limiting his outing as he threw 115 pitches. Leiter also labored a bit, throwing 116 pitches in six innings.

The Cardinals got three straight hits off Leiter to open the first, including a leadoff double by Miguel Cairo, who had been 1-for-14 against left-handed pitchers. Rolen and Renteria followed with one-out doubles after Eduardo Perez struck out.

Pujols also had an RBI double in the first for St. Louis.

Leiter settled down after the first, allowing only Perez's home run leading off the third. In six innings, he allowed five runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

Renteria leads the team with 21 RBIs, one more than Rolen.

Noteworthy

The start was delayed 25 minutes by rain.

Perez hit 10 homers last year, two off Leiter.

Piazza made a highlight reel sliding catch at the screen behind the plate of Mike Matheny's foul pop to end the first.

Mets 1B Mo Vaughn left with a stomach virus after striking out with the bases loaded in the first.

Morris is 4-2 with a 2.71 ERA against the Mets.

1B Tony Clark and 2B Roberto Alomar committed errors on successive plays in the third, giving the Mets 30 in 26 games. That includes nine multi-error games.