Mets batter Cardinals 13-5

NEW YORK -- Switch-hitter Tony Clark homered from both sides of the plate, then wanted to talk about his young teammates.

Clark drove in five runs to help Jeremy Griffiths earn his first major league victory as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-5 Sunday.

"As much as anything else, it's a pleasure to watch the growth of our young players," Clark said.

The Mets set a season high for runs and hits in ending a three-game losing streak. Clark, rookie Jason Phillips and Cliff Floyd each had three of New York's 19 hits.

St. Louis had won the first five games against the Mets this year and was going for a season sweep.

Albert Pujols doubled in the eighth for the Cardinals, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games. Bo Hart led off the game with his second homer in two days.

Griffiths (1-1), called up from Triple-A Saturday to pitch in place of injured Tom Glavine, gave up one earned run and six hits in seven innings.

"If you look at it, I threw about 80 percent fastballs, I think," said Griffiths. "I didn't use the curve much and the changeup wasn't working real well."

Glavine is slowed by a strained lower right ribcage muscle. He has received a cortisone shot and is expected to be re-evaluated Tuesday.

Garrett Stephenson (5-11) allowed four runs on 10 hits in six innings.

"I didn't think he was sharp. He was sluggish early," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Phillips drove in three runs. His RBI grounder in the fifth put the Mets ahead for good at 3-2.

Rookie Jose Reyes showed superb baserunning form to score the tiebreaking run. He led off the fifth with a single, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball and scored on Phillips' groundball.

Clark homered for the second straight day, connecting for a solo shot in the sixth.

"Tony Clark didn't hit the ball that good, it looked like a flyball," Stephenson said.

Clark added a two-run double in a four-run seventh. He hit a two-run homer, his 13th, that capped a five-run eighth.

Clark homered from both sides for the seventh time in his career. He last switch-hit homers July 25, 1999, for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox.

With the Mets leading 8-2, the Cardinals scored three runs in the eighth off reliever David Weathers on Kerry Robinson's RBI groundout and a two-run, pinch-hit single by Eduardo Perez.

Floyd and Timo Perez singled in first-inning runs to put the Mets ahead 2-1.

Notes: Griffiths spent most of June with the Mets and made his first major league start against the Yankees on June 28 before being optioned back to Norfolk. ... Stephenson made his fifth career start against New York and is now 2-2. ... Stephenson lost his first career decision in August (9-1). ... Pujols was hit in the leg by Miguel Cairo's foul liner in the ninth. Pujols stayed in the game and Cairo popped up to end the game.