St. Louis Cardinals edge New York Mets

ST. LOUIS -- Lance Lynn had the worst possible start to Friday night's game, but finished with one of his best games of the year.

After giving up a leadoff homer, Lynn permitted just two more hits and a walk over the next seven innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the New York Mets 3-2 at sold-out Busch Stadium.

Lynn (7-5) fanned nine and retired 12 hitters in a row following a one-out walk to right fielder Curtis Granderson in the third inning. Closer Trevor Rosenthal allowed a two-out RBI infield single to shortstop Ruben Tejada in the ninth but bagged his 27th save in 29 chances.

St. Louis (57-33) erased its deficit with two runs in the bottom of the sixth against New York starter Noah Syndergaard (4-5).

Third baseman Matt Carpenter scored second baseman Kolten Wong on a groundout to tie the game. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta provided the tiebreaking run, pounding his 14th homer of the year with two outs just over the outstretched glove of left fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

Inserted for defense in the top of the eighth, center fielder Peter Bourjos added offense in the inning's bottom, capping the scoring with an RBI double to the center-field wall that plated Wong.

Syndergaard (4-5) worked seven solid innings, giving up just five hits and whiffing six with just one walk.

The Cardinals improved to 32-11 at home, while the Mets (47-43) fell to 15-29 on the road.

Granderson started the game with his 33rd career leadoff homer, blasting a 3-1 pitch over the St. Louis bullpen and deep into the right-center-field bleachers. It was Granderson's 14th homer of the year and his fifth leadoff clout of the season.

That was it for the scoring through five innings. Lynn allowed just two more baserunners through the first five innings and had six strikeouts, including three in the second when he fanned the side.

St. Louis got runners to second and third with one out in the third against Syndergaard, but second baseman Kolten Wong lined out and third baseman Matt Carpenter struck out on three pitches.

NOTES: St. Louis activated LF Matt Holliday (right quad) from the 15-day DL on Friday and placed him in the lineup, batting third. LHP Nick Greenwood was optioned to Triple-A Memphis to make room for Holliday, who was hitting .303 with three homers and 26 RBIs before his injury on June 8 in Colorado. ... New York C Travis d'Arnaud (left elbow) took a few swings in batting practice on Friday and caught, but there is no timetable for his return from an injury suffered June 20 in a home plate collision with Atlanta C A.J. Pierzynski. ... Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia (groin) won't start until at least next weekend. LHP Tim Cooney will take his turn in the rotation on Sunday.