Grounded: Joel Pineiro dominates Mets again, pitches Cardinals to 3-0 victory

Pineiro dominates Mets with 2-hitter for Cardinals

NEW YORK — Joel Pineiro pitched a career-best two-hitter to end a five-start losing streak, dominating the New York Mets again and leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a rain-delayed 3-0 victory Tuesday night.

Albert Pujols smacked a two-run single and Pineiro matched the Mets at the plate all by himself. He doubled and scored in the third inning, then singled in the fourth.

Relying on a power sinker, Pineiro (6-8) got an astounding 22 outs on the ground in his fifth career shutout and 11th complete game. His previous win also was a shutout, a three-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 19.

After winning his first four starts of the season, Pineiro had lost eight of nine. He allowed only singles by Luis Castillo in the third and pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed in the ninth.

Pineiro walked one, struck out one and hit David Wright with a pitch. The right-hander improved to 3-0 with a 2.91 ERA in five starts against the Mets, including a 5-2 win on April 22 in St. Louis.

He also tossed eight innings of three-hit ball in a 3-0 Cardinals victory at Shea Stadium on Sept. 27, 2007, contributing to the first of New York’s consecutive late-season swoons.

Missing injured stars Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes, the Mets looked overmatched on offense as they pounded one pitch after another into the ground.

The game took only 2 hours, 13 minutes, not including the rain delay.

With a runner on in the fifth, Livan Hernandez (5-2) struck out Pujols on a balloon of a curveball that registered 66 mph. But the slugger paid him back in the seventh.

Hernandez walked Chris Duncan with first base open, forcing him to pitch to Pujols with the bases loaded. The two-time MVP lined a two-run single to left, making it 3-0.

Hernandez picked off a runner at second, then threw out Pujols trying to steal when he broke too early.

A brief but heavy storm rolled through Citi Field in the top of the third, halting play with the bases loaded and two outs.

Rain drenched the infield dirt, especially the area around home plate, as the grounds crew struggled to pull the tarp on all the way. The showers stopped after a few minutes but the infield was so soaked that it took workers almost half an hour to apply enough drying agent, smooth out the basepaths and re-chalk the field.

Following a 52-minute delay, Rick Ankiel flied out on Hernandez’s next pitch to end the inning.

Two mistakes by the Mets’ defense helped St. Louis take the lead.

Batting eighth, Pineiro opened the third with a long double to left. He stayed at second on a bunt by Brendan Ryan, credited with a single when Hernandez looked toward third before throwing too late to first.

Skip Schumaker hit a grounder to first and Daniel Murphy threw low to second for an error, allowing Pineiro to score.

Hoping to get something going against Pineiro, New York tried to get tricky in the sixth. Castillo drew a leadoff walk but was caught stealing when Hernandez faked a bunt and swung through a low pitch.

NOTES: Pineiro went 2 for 4, improving to 5 for 28 (.179) this season. … Prized prospect Fernando Martinez made his first start in center field for Beltran.