Photo: USA Today

The Mets (8-7) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (6-6) this afternoon at Clover Park by a score of 8-5. Taijuan Walker yielded just one hit over four strong innings, while Francisco Lindor launched a grand slam to carry the team to victory.

On the Mound

One of the Mets’ rotation acquisitions this winter, Walker has looked good over his two starts to kick off the spring. The only flaws against the right-hander were a single in the third inning and a walk in the fourth, but both runners wound up being erased on double plays regardless.

Following Walker, southpaw Jerry Blevins pitched a clean fifth and lowered his spring ERA to a respectable 3.00.

Depth starter Corey Oswalt, who punched out five of the six batters he faced in his last start, was roughed up to the tune of five runs over 2.2 innings, which included two long balls and a free pass and just one strikeout.

The funky right-hander, Trevor Hildenberger who signed as a non-roster invitee this offseason, bailed Oswalt out in the eighth and kept his pristine 0.00 ERA in tact. Daniel Zamora then sealed the deal for New York in the ninth for his second save of the spring.

At the Plate

The Mets got off to a hot start in this one, putting up runs in each of the first two innings, then capping it off with a five run fourth to put them up big early.

As he typically does, Brandon Nimmo led the first inning off with a walk, then was driven in by a laser beam of a double from first baseman Pete Alonso that clocked in at 114.4 mph off the bat.

In the next frame, Tomas Nido hit an opposite field bomb for his first long ball of the spring. The backup catcher went 3-for-3 on the afternoon with two runs scored.

The Mets juiced the bases in the fourth for Francisco Lindor after a couple hits and a fielder’s choice, and he unloaded one to right to give New York a commanding 7-0 lead.

The Cardinals snuck back to make it 7-5, but New York added another run after a Johneshwy Fargas triple in the eighth and a fielder’s choice that brought him home

On Deck

The Mets are off tomorrow, but are back in action on Sunday as their ace Jacob deGrom takes the hill. They will faceoff against the Washington Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Washington’s starter is TBD, and the game will not be televised.