Carpenter Takes Out Mets in 21st Win

Facing Chris Carpenter was the last thing the New York Mets needed.

Carpenter became the first 21-game winner in the major leagues, Albert Pujols homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the fading Mets, 5-0, Thursday night at St. Louis.

New York has lost 10 of 12, falling to 70-70. The Mets, on the verge of taking the wild-card lead on Aug. 31 before Pedro Martinez faltered against Philadelphia, have lost eight of nine since then and dropped 5 1/2 games behind Houston, which leads in the wild-card chase.

“We’ve got to see if we can get something going from the little funk we’re in,” Met Manager Willie Randolph said. “Obviously we’ve picked a bad time to go into a little swoon, and it’s hurting us.”

St. Louis cut the magic number for clinching its second straight NL Central title to 10.

Carpenter (21-4) gave up three hits in seven innings, struck out seven and walked one, lowering his earned-run average to 2.21, second in the majors to Roger Clemens’ 1.57. He’s 13-0 in his last 16 starts with a 1.36 ERA over that span.

Carpenter gave up two hits in the first, then retired 16 in a row, with just two batters hitting balls that reached the outfield, before Carlos Beltran singled leading off the seventh.

Florida 8, Washington 4 -- Pitcher Josh Beckett hit his first career home run, and Miguel Cabrera and Juan Pierre drove in three runs each at Washington. Florida won three straight, outscoring Washington, 24-7, after losing the series opener.

John Patterson (8-5) gave up seven runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He had been 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA in 15 starts at RFK Stadium.

San Diego 3, Colorado 2 -- Robert Fick singled in the winning run with two out in the 10th inning at San Diego. Brian Lawrence, Akinori Otsuka, Trevor Hoffman and Scott Linebrink combined to hold the Rockies to five hits. Linebrink (6-1) pitched a perfect 10th.

Chicago 5, San Francisco 3 -- Nomar Garciaparra hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning and Carlos Zambrano (13-5) got the victory at San Francisco.

Pittsburgh 8, Arizona 7 -- Humberto Cota singled home the winning run in the 12th inning and the Pirates overcame Tony Clark’s two homers and five RBIs to end a 10-game home losing streak.