ST. LOUIS - With his best fastball command this season, Miles Mikolas showed his All-Star form of last year.
Mikolas allowed four hits in eight innings and also drove in two runs Saturday, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the New York Mets 10-2.
"Miles is our opening day starter, and that's what guys like that do," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "They go out and eat up innings, and control the tempo of what's going on. They also pitch well with a lead like he doesn't have a lead."
Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter left the game after the sixth inning with a bruised left knee. He appeared to foul a ball off himself, but stayed in and drew a walk, then scored a run and exited. Shildt said he talked to Carpenter after the game and Carpenter told him he'd be fine.
Jose Martinez had three hits and three RBI and Paul Goldschmidt hit his eighth home run for St. Louis.
Mikolas (2-1), who allowed both runs, became the first St. Louis pitcher to record an out in the seventh inning this season.
"I was just executing what I set out to do," he said. "I watched the game last night, watched how their hitters reacted to a lot of pitchers the other day, and we do our scouting meetings and everything like that. Having real good command just kind of helps that."
It was scoreless in the second inning when the Mets intentionally walked Kolten Wong to load the bases with two outs for Mikolas. Wilson Ramos' passed ball allowed Martinez to score on the first pitch, and Mikolas followed with a two-run single.
He said he's inspired by teammate Adam Wainwright
"It's the other team saying hey, you stink, we'll take our chances with you hitting," Mikolas said. "As a pitching staff here you have a guy with a Silver Slugger a couple lockers down. We take our hitting pretty serious so it's satisfying to see all the work kind of pay off."
The Cardinals are 11-0 when Mikolas has a hit.
Chris Flexen (0-1) surrendered six runs and seven hits in 41/3 innings in his first major league start since last July 18 against Tampa Bay. Manager Mickey Callaway said after the game he will be sent back to Triple-A and left-hander Daniel Zamora will be brought up.
"I got beat on a few pitches up, struggled putting guys away with two strikes," Flexen said. "All in all, I went out there and battled, stayed aggressive, and attacked these guys."
Martinez added a two-run double in the sixth off Jacob Rhame. Martinez has hit safely in his last six starts, going 13- for-25 (.520) in that span after starting the season 2-for-17 (.118) with limited playing time.
"I've seen what Jose can do," Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong said. "He's hit his whole career. Sometimes he can be a little antsy when he hasn't played in a while, but he's definitely done his job lately. Getting some more regular at bats, he's really coming into his own."
Goldschmidt hit a 464-foot solo home run off Paul Sewald in the eighth inning. Eight of his 19 hits have been home runs.
Notes: Mets RHP Jacob deGrom played catch in the outfield a day after being placed on the injured list with right elbow soreness. Callaway said the NL Cy Young Award winner might not need an MRI as previously announced because his elbow responded well to treatment. "Much improved," Callaway said. "We'll get him back to New York and get him checked out and go from there." Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez threw a 30-pitch side session prior to the game. Martinez said he mixed in breaking pitches with his fastball and changeup. Shildt said it is reasonable to expect Martinez to progress to throwing live batting practice at extended spring training in Jupiter, Fla., in the next few days and potentially progress to a minor league rehabilitation assignment by the end of next week. Entering today's game, Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 5.63) is 1-2 with a 3.08 ERA in four starts against St. Louis. Cardinals RHP Dakota Hudson (0-1, 6.08) has failed to complete the fifth inning in all three of his starts this season. He will be making his first career appearance against the Mets.