Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets (12-13) split Wednesday night’s doubleheader in St. Louis with a 7-2 triumph over the Cardinals (18-13) in game two.

Despite bullpenning the seven-inning affair, the lack of a starter didn’t come into play. Mets relievers combined to allow just one run on 11 hits, with one walk and two strikeouts. Miguel Castro tossed the first inning and allowed one hit, a walk, and struck out one.

New York had its first pair of hits at the start of the second inning. A Dominic Smith single and Kevin Pillar double put two runners in scoring position with no outs. The Mets got on the board with two out and Nido at the plate because Cardinals starter Johan Oviedo threw a wild pitch, allowing Smith to score. He then let Nido get the best of a hanging breaking ball for a two-run homer, giving New York an early 3-0 lead.

Jordan Yamamoto took over in the bottom of the second and threw 2.2 innings. He allowed one run on four hits, adding a strikeout. Jonathan Villar did some adding of his own by hitting his first home run in a Mets uniform in the fourth to tack on another run, making it 4-0. That’s what the score was when Aaron Loup came on in relief with two outs in the fourth. He allowed back-to-back singles to give the Cards back a run, but it was charged to Yamamoto.

In the fifth, Jeff McNeil knocked a base hit and Michael Conforto walked, giving New York runners at first and second with two outs. Consecutive base hits from Pillar and Villar drove in two more runs for a 6-1 lead.

Trevor May took the mound in the fifth and surrendered a leadoff double to Harrison Bader before shutting St. Louis down, lowering his ERA to 1.74. Robert Gsellman allowed one run on two hits in his lone inning of work to contribute to the bullpen effort.

Pete Alonso and Conforto drew a pair of walks and Smith singled to juice the bases in the top of the seventh. Pillar grounded into a force-out, with Conforto out on the play at third. He drove a run in to give us the eventual final score of 7-2. Jeurys Familia continued his own strong start to the season by shutting the door with a shutout inning to secure the victory.

The Mets were finally able to score some runs for their pitching staff and split the doubleheader in St. Louis. Smith, Pillar, Villar, and Nido did most of the heavy lifting on offense, as they all enjoyed multi-hit performances.

The Mets will finish off this four-game series against the Cardinals on Thursday afternoon. Taijuan Walker (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will face off against John Gant (2-2, 2.16 ERA). Walker is coming off a rough outing against Philadelphia where he allowed four runs on seven hits, one walk, and four strikeouts in six innings of work. Gant earned a win in his last start with five innings pitched, as he allowed just one run on three hits with five walks and two Ks.

First pitch at Busch Stadium will be at 1:15 PM on May 6. The game will be televised by SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880-AM.