NEW YORK • Long before the hitter he tried to walk launched a game-breaking homer, Adam Wainwright knew his grand return to Queens was going to be a slog.
He felt out of sorts before even throwing a pitch.
In what has become a season defined by inconsistencies, the Cardinals' biggest constant succumbed to the trend as Wainwright allowed a season-high six runs in an 8-2 drubbing by the New York Mets. Wainwright's first appearance on a mound in New York since his curveball froze Carlos Beltran and won the 2006 National League Championship Series was everything that pitch was not: erratic and forgettable.
"Poor execution leads to poor results," Wainwright said. "My body was fighting itself to get in the right position to throw a ball. ... It was something that was a grind from the very first pitch.
"Very poor execution."
That has become a viral theme of the season.
The Cardinals lost for the fourth time in five games since their eight-game romp around the All-Star break. Whatever chances they had to inch back into Tuesday's game at Citi Field they lost in the webbing of David Wright's glove at third base or in their own lack of execution.
The Cardinals left 10 runners on base, went two for 12 with runners in scoring position and got an 0-for-five performance from first baseman Albert Pujols. The Mets, groping for offense, got eight runs and the three-run blast from Jeff Francoeur to back Jon Niese's six solid innings.
"We had a plan before the game on how to get all of their hitters out, especially (Pujols)," said Niese (7-4). "We tried not to let him beat us. It's kind of comforting that the plan worked."
While stretching for the game, before he threw his first warm-up pitch, Wainwright (14-6) felt his timing and balance were off. It didn't take long to discover by how much. In the second inning, Wainwright walked Wright and gave up a ground-rule double to Beltran. Wainwright meant to go inside with the pitch to Beltran and instead saw it stray up and away. He said he missed his location "by three feet. I never miss by three feet."
The lack of command was more problematic in the fifth. He walked Beltran on four pitches, gave up a single to rookie Ike Davis and with runners at the corners faced Francoeur. Wainwright was ready to surrender the at-bat. Either the free-swinging Francoeur was going to go after pitches, or Wainwright was prepared to walk him.
Instead, a fastball meant to sail out of the zone spun tantalizingly up and over the plate for Francoeur to mash into the left-center stands for a three-run shot. Francoeur's ninth homer of the season snapped a 1-1 tie and sparked the rout.
"It's pretty hard to give up home runs here," Wainwright said. "Facing Francoeur, I know he has power. But you don't expect to give up a home run, especially when you're trying to walk him."
Beltran, who has become known in New York for taking that pennant-clinching curveball nearly four years ago, wasn't frozen or fooled Tuesday. In his first home game of the season since returning from knee surgery, Beltran reached base all three times he faced Wainwright. His RBI single in the fifth inning gave the Mets a five-run lead and effectively chased Wainwright from his worst start of the season. Wainwright's ERA bloated from 1.94 to 2.23.
He came back to New York for his first career start against the Mets riding a career-best streak of 25 scoreless innings. That ended at 26 when the walk to Wright, double by Beltran and RBI groundout from Davis tied the game 1-1.
The run stopped the Mets' scoreless streak at 16 innings.
The Mets stumbled back home after a 2-9 trip, during which they hit .195 and scored 23 runs in 11 games, or about two per game. Jose Reyes got that many with one swing against rookie Fernando Salas, who covered two innings and watched the Mets inflate their lead to seven runs.
In the sixth, the Cardinals loaded the bases on Niese, but Aaron Miles flew out to right to squelch the rally. From the sixth to the eighth innings, the Cardinals put eight runners on base and managed to bring only one home.
Ludwick scored on a double play.
"We had chances," manager Tony La Russa said. "We could have done a better job of getting better pitches to hit. We definitely did some chasing in key situations."
So, one constant continued.
