Mets hand Redbirds first exhibition loss

~ New York won 4-3 in a rematch of the 2006 NLCS teams.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Starter Tom Glavine tossed two hitless innings to lead the New York Mets to a 4-3 win over the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

Glavine was nearly perfect except for hitting the Cardinals Scott Rolen on an 0-2 pitch to start the second inning.

"I felt good, surprisingly," Glavine said. "Once I got out there everything seemed to be comfortable and flowed nicely. You just dont know until you get out there. The first outing every year, there is a little bit of antsyness because youre not sure youre going to be able to execute pitches the way you want to. You just kind of hope you get out there and things click and they did."

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter threw three innings giving up two runs on two hits, including a double by David Wright who later scored on a triple by Carlos Beltran.

Jose Reyes homered for the Mets, who had nine hits off five St. Louis pitchers.

Anderson Hernandez singled in Endy Chavez with the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh. Chris Duncan, Scott Spiezio and Edgar Gonzalez hit solo homers for St. Louis.

The Mets said that X-rays on outfielder Lastings Milledges injured left hand were negative. The 21-year-old is listed day to day with a contusion on his left hand.

Also, second baseman Jose Valentin, who has missed the first two games with a sprained ankle, is expected to try to play Saturday when the Mets host the Dodgers at 1:10 p.m.