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. Jon Lester Jersey . 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. ... Mets leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr. was rested. Addison Russell Jersey .Y. - For once, Clayton Kershaw was glad to see a long shutout streak end. Jonathan Lucroy Jersey .C. - Goodyear has warned teams that increased speeds at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put a heavy emphasis on the right front tires in Saturday nights race a€” a potentially key development for drivers trying to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. http://www.customcubsjersey.com/custom-fergie-jenkins-jersey-large-350n.html . The 36-year-old said a few months ago he would hang up his boots at the end of the season, but has since changed his mind. "Its a pity the season is ending now, as I am in good physical shape and enjoying myself," Di Natale said.DENVER -- Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke found a rhythm the Denver Nuggets backcourt could not match. Hayward scored a season-high 30 points to go with a career-high 13 rebounds, Derrick Favours had 19 points and the Utah Jazz rallied after blowing a big third-quarter lead to beat the Nuggets 103-93 Friday night. Point guard Trey Burke had 10 points and 10 assists for his second double-double in a week. Wilson Chandler and Jordan Hamilton had 17 apiece for the Nuggets, whose starting backcourt of Ty Lawson and Randy Foye was outscored 40-0. "Ty Lawson just came back off injury so you give him the benefit," Utah coach Ty Corbin said. "But I like the way our guys played." Brian Shaw couldnt say the same for his starters. A week after giving up 39 first-quarter points to the Boston Celtics, Shaws team allowed the Jazz to put up 33 in the first 12 minutes. "The first quarter was the beginning of the end for us. They were hitting everything," Denvers coach said. "Our defence was terrible. We scored 28 ourselves, which is plenty enough but continuing to give up those big quarters is not going to get it done for us." The poor starts have Shaw considering making a change in his starting lineup. "I dont know if I have to shake it up or what I have to do with that starting lineup, the chemistry for whatever reason is not there," he said. "Its putting too much pressure on our bench night after night." The Nuggets struggled from the foul line, going 14 for 24, while the Jazz hit their first 13 free throws in going 19 of 20 from the line. Denver fell to 6-3 on its home court after losing just three times at Pepsi Center all of last year. The Jazz, meanwhile, are happy to steal one on the road. After starting the year 1-14 Utah is 5-5 in its last 10 games. "We have all of our guys," Corbin said. "We have different options." They needed them against Denver after the Jazz scored just 10 points in an 11-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters. The Nuggets, who trailed by 16 early in the third, finished the quarter on a 26-8 run to go ahead by two. The lead grew to four bbefore Utah responded. Dillon Maples Jersey. Hayward and Richard Jefferson had three-point plays and Favours putback gave the Jazz a 94-89 lead. "I remember Rich kind of bringing everyone together and saying, Theyre a good team, they made theyre run, now its our turn to make a run, Hayward said of Jefferson. "We slowed down and kind of made one of our own." Denver cut it to 96-93 on two free throws by Andre Miller, but a layup and free throw gave Utah a 99-93 lead and the Jazz closed it out from there. "They came out and hit us early," Miller said. "Four or five 3-pointers to start the game. It was just an uphill battle the rest of the game." Utahs nine-point halftime lead grew to 16 but Denver rallied. Hamilton hit a 3-pointer and a fadeaway jumper to give the Nuggets a 70-69 lead with 2:43 left in the third. It was their first lead since 4-3. Hamilton hit a breakaway layup and a free throw at the end of the period to give Denver a 75-73 lead heading into the fourth. "We kept our poise, we stayed together," Jazz forward Marvin Williams said. The Jazz used strong shooting to take the early lead. Utah hit its first four 3-pointers and made six of seven in the first period. The Jazz cooled off in the second quarter, but used a strong finish to the half to lead 53-44 at the break. Hayward had 14 points at the intermission and Williams 11. Chandler had 13 points at the break for the Nuggets, who struggled from 3-point range (3 for 11) and from the free-throw line (5 for 11) in the first half. "(We) miss 10 free throws in our building, on our court, and we lose by 10 points," he said. NOTES: Hayward has two 30-point games in his career and both have come against Denver. ... There was a moment of silence before the national anthem for Arapahoe High School staff, students and families affected by the shooting at the suburban Denver school on Friday afternoon. ... Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the highest-scoring game in NBA history. Detroit beat the Nuggets 186-184 in three overtimes in Denver. ... The Jazz have the best 3-point shooting percentage (45.4) in the league during December. ' ' '