NEW YORK -- With a 360-foot relay in the ninth inning, the New York Mets prevented a hard-fought victory from vanishing in the wind. Lucas Duda hit a long home run and New York threw out the potential tying run at the plate to hold off the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Wednesday on a blustery night at Citi Field. Jonathon Niese earned his first win of the season, and shortstop Ruben Tejada cut down Matt Carpenter for the second out of the ninth on a strong relay from centre fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. "My hearts still racing," Mets catcher Travis dArnaud said. "A 180-spin throw like that -- a perfect throw. I still cant believe I witnessed that." St. Louis manager Mike Matheny challenged the call by plate umpire Marty Foster, which was confirmed following a replay review of 1 minute, 20 seconds that showed dArnaud nicked Carpenter with a sweep tag behind his armpit. "I didnt feel the tag and I initially thought that I was safe," Carpenter said. "But I got a chance to look at it and it was a good call." With a runner on second, Kyle Farnsworth sealed it by retiring Matt Holliday on a tricky fly to right. Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha (2-2) set career highs with 10 strikeouts and five walks in the shortest of his 14 regular-season starts in the majors. A bizarre outing if ever there was one -- but it was that sort of night. Curtis Granderson snapped his career-worst hitless skid at 22 at-bats with a first-inning single, and the Mets got 6 2-3 effective innings from Niese (1-2) with wind gusting up to 41 mph on a 51-degree night. "Kind of throwing cue balls out there," Niese said. "It kind of felt like I was throwing with an ice pack on. Its tough to keep warm." Carlos Torres and Scott Rice escaped an eighth-inning jam before Farnsworth worked the ninth for his second save. He gave up consecutive singles and an RBI double to pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso that one-hopped the wall in left-centre, but New Yorks defence saved Farnsworth. "Two great throws," Carpenter said. "Thats a tough play thats not made a whole lot, especially with the game on the line." Carpenter had four hits and Yadier Molina added three for the Cardinals, but Jhonny Peraltas hitless streak reached 21 at-bats. Peralta popped out with runners at second and third in the eighth before pinch-hitter Matt Adams flied out to end the inning. Niese improved to 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis. "I dont know what it is with Jon and cold weather, but he gets the call," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He pitched absolutely great tonight in the conditions." The game began in a 31 mph wind at a mostly empty stadium. Workers hustled between innings to clean up all the flying napkins and hot dog wrappers that littered the outfield -- even bundled-up second base umpire Rob Drake helped out during a stoppage in play. "It was terrible. The worst. Not fun," Carpenter said. High popups and flyballs were an adventure. Tejada dropped one after retreating into the outfield, then scampering back to the infield. New York still got an easy forceout on the play. Wachas red cap blew right off his head as he was waiting for a new ball and rolled, like tumbleweed, to second baseman Mark Ellis. Duda homered against Seth Maness leading off the sixth, a laser beam of a line drive that cut under the wind and nearly reached the Shea Bridge walkway above the bullpens in right-centre. It was the first home run for the Mets in their past seven home games, ending their longest such drought since May 2012. Early on, it appeared the 22-year-old Wacha was headed to a record-setting performance. Last years NL championship series MVP overpowered the Mets with nine strikeouts in the first three innings but soon lost his control. He walked three in the fourth, including No. 8 batter Tejada and Nieuwenhuis with the bases loaded, forcing in two runs. Wacha was pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth after throwing 93 pitches. Coming in, he had issued only three free passes in 26 innings this season. The Mets said Wacha joined Smoky Joe Wood (1909), Felix Hernandez (2013) and Danny Salazar (2014) as the only pitchers since 1900 to have at least 10 strikeouts in an outing that lasted no more than four innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Molina doubled home a run with two outs in the first, extending his hitting streak to 14 games, after Tejada and the Mets botched a rundown that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play. NOTES: Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (knee) expects to make his next scheduled start Sunday against Pittsburgh, Matheny said. ... 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Discount NBA Jerseys . -- A lawyer for the fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez asked a judge Friday to throw out perjury charges, saying Shayanna Jenkins did not wilfully lie as she was bombarded with 1,630 questions over two days before a grand jury. WICHITA, Kan. -- Midway through the second half Wichita State guard Ron Baker senses the expected battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference was not going to happen. As the fifth-ranked Shockers kept adding to their lead and Indiana State appeared to become more frustrated, the eventual 68-48 blowout seemed inevitable. "When we held them to like four points in the first eight minutes after halftime, I could tell we were putting salt in their wound," Baker said. "It was pretty smooth sailing from there." Indeed, the undefeated Shockers (19-0, 6-0 MVC) cruised behind Bakers 16 points and 15 from Fred VanVleet. Darius Carter and Chadrack Lufile each scored 10 points inside as Wichita State extended school records for winning streak and best start to a season. Dawon Cummings scored 19 points for Indiana State (14-4, 5-1). He was 7 of 14 from the field and the rest of the team was 9 of 37 (24.3 per cent). "I thought we were ready," Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said. "We were loose, maybe too loose. We know theyre good. They could run the table and win a national championship. They are that good. But you have to rise to their level." That didnt happen, mainly due to Wichita States defence. The Sycamores entered the game leading the Missouri Valley at 76.7 points a game, but they were just 8 of 24 from the field in the first half for 22 points. Led by VanVleets nine first-half points, Wichita State led 31-22 at halftime. "We had good defensive intensity in the first half," VanVleet said. "But we wanted to even take it to another level." They did. VanVleet was the key to the start of the second half, driving foor a left-handed layup and another point-blank jumper while being fouled.ddddddddddddThe three-point play gave Wichita State 36-22 lead with 17:16 to play. Things got worse from there for the Sycamores. They missed their first 10 shots of the second half and committed six turnovers in the process. "Im very disappointed in how we let our missed shots and turnovers affect our defence and everything else," Lansing said. "It was almost like our guys knew they were beat and tried to get it over. If youre a competitor, that cant happen." Wichita State kept adding to its lead all the while. Cleanthony Early scored four straight points, and Carter converted a finger roll before making a running hook that made it 47-24 with 12:32 remaining. Indiana State finally made a shot 15 seconds later -- allowing the sold-out crowd to sit and stop clapping continuously -- when Justin Gant followed a Sycamores miss with a layup. The Shockers lead grew to as many as 28 -- 61-33 -- on a 3 by Baker with 8:47 left. "Thats a good team, a veteran team," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "To beat them by 20, youve done something." Wichita State outrebounded Indiana State 44-30. The Shockers were 3 of 15 from the 3-point line but 21 of 41 inside it. "To beat the No. 2 team in the league like that, its a statement in itself," Baker said. "But were the kind of team thats going to worry about the next game and getting better anyway." At 19-0, Wichita State tied the 1962-63 Cincinnati team for second-best start for a Missouri Valley team. Both trail Indiana State in 1978-79, which did not lose until the national championship game. ' ' '