The Mets and Cardinals got their four-game set started up on Monday night with St. Louis rolling to a lopsided 7-1 victory. Both the Mets and Cardinals need all the wins they can get right now while battling for the lead in their division.

The Mets sit 3.5 games back of the Phillies after Monday night's loss, while the Cards - who own the NL Wild Card lead - are only two games behind the Cubs in the Central. The Mets may be good value here as a road dog.

In Tuesday's game the Mets will be forced to start minor league call-up Tony Armas Jr. The Mets' doubleheader against the Yankees last Friday plus the lack of a day off since then has forced them to bring up Armas and insert him into the rotation as a spot starter. Click here for the full matchup report.

Armas pitched for Pittsburgh last season and appeared in 31 games (15 as starter), compiling a 4-5 record and a 6.03 ERA. He will open the day as a +130 underdog on the moneyline.

St. Louis counters with Todd Wellemeyer (7-2, 3.46) in Tuesday's game. Wellemeyer pitched five shutout innings in his last start against Detroit. That was much better than his previous outing against Colorado, in which he was blasted for eight runs in only three 1-3 innings.

On Wednesday both the Mets and Cardinals send struggling veterans to the mound, as New York goes with Pedro Martinez (2-2, 7.12) and St. Louis starts Joel Piñeiro (2-4, 4.33). You can get pitcher game logs and research each pitcher in the searchable pitcher database here at PointSpread.com.

Martinez was roughed up again in his last start after the Yankees torched him for six runs on six hits in five 2-3 innings. Martinez lacked control in that game and also walked five batters.

Piñeiro, meanwhile, was blasted for seven runs on 10 hits in seven 2-3 innings by the Royals the last time he took the mound. The Cardinals are 0-6 in Piñeiro's last six starts, and Piñeiro hasn't recorded a win since April 29.

Closing out the series on Thursday will be Mike Pelfry (5-6, 4.47) for New York and Mitchell Boggs (3-0, 4.37) for St. Louis. Pelfry has posted a win in his last three starts, although he lucked out in his last outing against the Yankees after surrendering four runs on eight hits in five innings.

Boggs, a minor league fill-in for the Cardinals, looked good in his last start after holding Kansas City to one run in six strong innings.

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