NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) -- Vance Wilson replaced Mike Piazza in the third inning and delivered a two-out RBI single off Matt Morris in the fifth to lift the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory Tuesday night over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jay Payton, who replaced injured Timo Perez earlier in the game, singled with one out in the fifth and stole second as Roberto Alomar struck out. With Piazza out of the game with a mild hamstring strain, Cards manager Tony La Russa had Mo Vaughn intentionally walked with Wilson on deck. But the strategy backfired when Wilson lined Morris' first pitch into the hole between third and short to snap the 3-3 tie.
The Mets snapped a three-game losing streak and handed the Cards their fifth consecutive loss. Coming off a four-game sweep at Milwaukee, St. Louis slipped to 1-7 on its 13-game road trip.
The Cards were hoping their ace Morris (4-1) would put a halt to the skid, but instead he suffered his first loss of the year, allowing three runs in the first inning and the go-ahead run in the fifth.
Jeff D'Amico (2-1) settled down after a shaky start and provided the Mets with his fourth straight quality start. After giving up a two-run homer to Albert Pujols in the first inning and an RBI double to Morris in the second, D'Amico threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings before handing it to the bullpen.
Mark Guthrie and Scott Strickland each recorded an out with a runner in scoring position in the eighth and Armando Benitez capped a scoreless ninth by striking out pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo with a runner on third to end the game for his fifth save.
