Hot bullpen boosts Cardinals' optimism against Mets

The New York Mets got their first look Friday at the player they hope will be the missing piece for their inconsistent lineup.

That player -- J.D. Martinez -- and the Mets then got a look at what already is the strongest part of the St. Louis Cardinals -- their late-inning relief corps.

The Cardinals will attempt to lock up their second straight series win Saturday afternoon when they visit the Mets in the second game of a three-game set.

Sonny Gray (2-1, 1.04 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Cardinals against fellow right-hander Adrian Houser (0-2, 7.45).

Miles Mikolas and three relievers led St. Louis past New York 4-2 on Friday.

The Mets generated plenty of traffic against Mikolas, who allowed seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Martinez's RBI double chased Mikolas, but JoJo Romero struck out Jeff McNeil, representing the potential tying run, to begin an impressive stretch by Cardinals relievers.

Romero threw a perfect seventh, and Andrew Kittredge worked around a leadoff single by Brandon Nimmo in the eighth. Ryan Helsley struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth, when he locked down his eighth save.

"When I'm pitching and I see that the bullpen gets going, it almost gives me more confidence that I can go ahead and I can be aggressive and go right at guys," Mikolas said. "Because I know that if I do make a mistake, that the bullpen's going to come right in and shut the door and pick me up."

Romero, Kittredge and Helsley have a combined ERA of 1.40.

"There's an identity in that 'pen," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "Those guys have done a really good job. They're preparing well and they're executing."

The Mets hope Martinez -- a lifetime .287 hitter with 315 homers who made his season debut in the series opener -- can solidify their offensive identity following an up-and-down first month. New York is 1-4 in the past five games, managing a total of five runs in the four defeats.

Before that, the Mets won 12 of 15 games while averaging 6.1 runs per contest.

"It's one of those (situations) where you just want to make our lineup a lot deeper," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday afternoon. "We've got a lot of good hitters here, but having J.D. finally in our lineup obviously is a good thing."

Martinez, who signed with the Mets on March 23 but had his ramp-up slowed by lower back tightness earlier this month, singled in his first at-bat on Friday. He struck out before and after his sixth-inning double.

"It was just kind of (about) getting my bearings and getting into a routine again," Martinez said postgame.

Gray took a loss despite striking out 12 in his most recent start, when he gave up two runs in 6 1/3 innings as the Cardinals fell 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. He is 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three career starts against the Mets.

Houser also absorbed a loss Sunday after allowing eight runs in four-plus innings during the Mets' 10-0 defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 5-6 with a 3.07 ERA in 16 games (13 starts) against the Cardinals.