ST. LOUIS -- The New York Mets return home still relevant, albeit banged up.
In a must-win game at Busch Stadium, Alejandro De Aza produced a career-high five RBIs and Seth Lugo tossed five scoreless innings before departing with what was labeled a right calf cramp as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-6 Thursday.
With the rubber-game win, the Mets moved to within 3½ games of the Cardinals for the National League’s second wild-card spot. A loss would have left the Mets six back in the loss column with 35 games remaining and crippled reasonable hope of a return to the postseason.