NEW YORK -- The only thing Jenrry Mejia popped Monday night was his fastball. Matt Cullen Jersey . Showing off a sizzling heater with wicked movement, Mejia pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and led the New York Mets over the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0. Mejia (3-0) bounced back well from a torn blister on his right middle finger that limited him to five innings in his last start. The 24-year-old righty began the game by getting Matt Carpenter to look at three straight strikes, and rarely was in trouble. "Coming off the blister ... we werent sure what he was going to give us," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He gave us more than we expected, for sure." David Wright lined an early RBI single that extended his hitting streak to 12 games and Kyle Farnsworth earned his first save as the New Yorks newest closer. On an evening when the Mets debuted new camouflage tops to salute the military, they looked sharp, particularly on a double play started by shortstop Ruben Tejada. The Cardinals lost for the third time in four games. "Their shortstop kind of stopped any kind of rally from happening," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Being frustrated, I dont think theres anything wrong with that," he said after the NL champions were shut out for the third time this year. "I think the bigger story is that our offence will get going on a consistent basis." Mejia struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings and walked three. He stretched his scoreless streak to 13 2-3 innings. Mejia said the blister was hardly a concern. The St. Louis hitters were the ones having trouble, not him. "They know my fastball moves," he said. Scott Rice and Carlos Torres each got two outs before Farnsworth, the Mets third closer this year, pitched the ninth for his first save. Farnsworth inherited the role after Bobby Parnell needed Tommy John surgery and Jose Valverde struggled. Farnsworth had two saves last season for Pittsburgh. Tyler Lyons (0-1) lost in his first major league game of the season. Promoted from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day to take the rotation spot of injured Joe Kelly, he allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. A 26-year-old lefty with a big-breaking slider, Lyons struck out seven. Hes another in the long line of tall, homegrown pitchers developed by the Cardinals, and went 2-4 last year in his first big league season. Lyons struck out the first two batters in the third before Eric Young Jr. singled for the Mets first hit. Slumping Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch and Wright singled for a 1-0 lead. Lyons throwing error on a tapper set up another run in the sixth. Daniel Murphy walked, later stole third and scored on a single by Travis dArnaud. Mejia escaped his biggest jam in the sixth when, with runners at the corners and one out, he retired Matt Holliday on a popup and Matt Adams on a grounder. The previous inning, the Mets backed Mejia with a sweet double play. Tejada dived to stop Jon Jays grounder up the middle and flipped to Murphy, and the second baseman made a barehanded catch and spun quickly for the relay. "Tremendous double play," Collins praised. NOTES: Wright has eight hits in his last three games. He has eight RBIs in eight games. ... Murphy has been safe on 25 straight steal tries. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina stretched his hitting streak to 12 games. ... Granderson struck out three times. Hes hitless in his last 19 at-bats and is in a 4-for-47 slump that includes 17 strikeouts. ... St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta was hitless in three at-bats and is in an 0-for-15 rut. ... The Mets promoted 40-year-old OF Bobby Abreu from Triple-A. He didnt get into the game. ... St. Louis RHP Eric Fornataro made his major league debut and pitched a perfect eighth. Molina waited outside the dugout to pat him on the head. ... Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (3-1, 1.80) starts Tuesday night against RHP Dillon Gee (1-0, 3.71). ... Kelly strained his left hamstring trying to beat out a bunt last week and was put on the 15-day disabled list. ... The Mets have thrown three shutouts this season. Mike Fisher Predators Jersey . Five first-round trades were made Tuesday night as well as another involving an early second-round selection. Craig Conroy Jersey . Miamis two-year reign was over. And Bosh almost sounded relieved. The Heat got rolled in the NBA Finals by San Antonio, losing in five games, the last three of them lopsided, and for the first time since 2011 there would be no championship parade in Miami.TORONTO - Stewing in the frustration of a Game 1 loss, DeMar DeRozan imprisoned himself in his room following a disappointing playoff debut on Saturday. His first postseason experience was something he had been dreaming about, something he had been preparing for, but it didnt go as he had planed. Reflecting on what went wrong, DeRozan spent the duration of the evening in solitude. He didnt turn on the television and he didnt speak to any of his friends around the league. He thought about returning to the Air Canada Centre at 1am to get up some shots, but decided against it. He needed to regroup, to recalibrate. The next day he went back to work. "Im a student of the game," said the Raptors All-Star. "I went back, watched the whole game two or three times." Fast forward to Tuesday nights sequel. DeRozan, finally getting into a rhythm, picked up his fifth foul with just over seven minutes remaining the final quarter. After pleading with coach Dwane Casey to keep him in the game, he was wisely subbed out, finding himself on the bench as his team clutched onto an evaporating lead. They had been up by as many as 11, but the Nets were closing in and the sell-out crowd, electric again, was getting deja vu. The Raptors were wilting under the pressure, succumbing to the veteran savvy of a Brooklyn team that owned the fourth quarter three days prior, or so we thought. There was DeRozan, in solitude once again on the bench, head down while his teammates and coaches convened during a timeout. "It was just my competitive spirit," he said. "I was a little frustrated, just calming myself down. I was a little frustrated that I couldnt be out there with my team, especially at that critical moment. Just staying focused." Two minutes later, he re-entered, the game tied at 83. Almost immediately, he drained a 20-foot jumper to put Toronto on top. Moments later, he knocked down a fadeaway, padding the lead. He never looked back. "It was just me taking advantage of the mistakes I made in the first game and not doing the same thing in this game," said DeRozan after leading the Raptors to a 100-95 win, evening their series with Brooklyn at one game apiece. "Its everything that you dream about, especially when you become a professional athlete, [play] at the highest level." After being held to 14 points - failing to make a shot until the third quarter - in the series premiere, the fifth-year guard scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the final frame Tuesday, hitting four of his five field goal attempts and nine of his 11 free throws. "Im just happy for him because a lot of people said he had a bad game [Saturday]," said Kyle Lowry, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2. "Every one has a bad game once in awhile. Tonight, he just showed what he can do. He did an unbelievable job of attacking, being aggressive and he got his rhythm going. Once he gets his rhythm going, he is a hard guard." The playoffs, as we know, are about adjustments from one game to the next and, despite another patchy performance through the first 36 minutes, DeRozan gave the Raptors new life in this series, one that few are expecting them to win. DeRozan was far from perfect and neither were the Raptors. After committing 19 turnovers Saturday, Toronto threw the ball away 21 times. They hit just two of 16 attempts from three-point range and had to overcome quiet outings from both Lowry and Terrence Ross, who shot 1-for-8. Perhaps they were fortunate that the Nets looked nothing like the team that thoroughly outplayed them in Game 1. Paul Pierce, Saturdays hero, was just 2-for-11. He didnt make a shot until the fourth quarter, but couldnt recapture last weekends late-game magic, misfiring on a couple wide-open looks from beyond the arc in the final 30 seconds. The win wasnt pretty, but it was one they needed - a hard-fought game resembling the style of basketball Casey expects to see from his team. "Earlier in the year, we wanted to be the Freddy Krueger of the NBA," said Casey. &quuot;Not give up, not give in. Mason Raymond Jersey. I think our guys have done that. We won against a very veteran team like Brooklyn and that is very difficult to do because they seem to find a way to challenge you and keep you on your toes. I thought our guys did a good job of making sure they kept the pedal to the metal." "We werent going down 0-2," stated Amir Johnson, who also enjoyed a bounce-back performance, scoring 16 points to go along with nine boards. "We were the desperate team and we had to play desperate. There was no way we were going to lose that game. It was a must-win for us." Now, its a brand new series, a best of five that will shift to Brooklyns Barclays Center for Fridays Game 3 and Sundays Game 4. Despite the statement win, the Raptors are still expecting be overlooked as they head on the road. "For us to go through the struggles and start from the bottom," DeRozan said, sounding awfully like Drake, the teams global ambassador, seated courtside Tuesday, "and work our way up and still dont get the respect we deserve, we understand we still have a long way to go." "We dont want no attention, at all," added Greivis Vasquez, who scored 11 off Torontos bench. "Were fine with that. We let the people talk, but we do the talking on the court and thats just who we are, really. We lost the first game and everyone was talking. Everyone was killing DeMar because he couldnt do anything, now theyre going to love him for a couple more days. Its just basketball, man." "Everyone is doubting us, which is great," Casey said. "We look at their minutes in playoff play, they have a couple Hall of Famers on the team. We are the underdog, but the way our guys competed and fought tonight, I was proud. Now the series starts." Quiet contribution from Fields As practice was letting out on Monday, Vasquez inadvertently let the cat out of the bag; Landry Fields had been involved in the teams preparation for Game 2 and could be used to try and slow down Pierce or Joe Johnson. Sure enough, Fields entered the game in place of John Salmons late in the first quarter. Although 12 Raptors saw the floor in Game 1, Fields was relegated to the bench, where hes spent most of the season. However, the fourth-year forward has stayed ready and has been a reliable source of energy when called upon. Tuesday was no different. Without attempting a single shot, Fields, an active player on both ends of the floor, made an impact with his defence. After Johnson scored 12 points in the third quarter - mostly against DeRozan - Fields held him to just two points in the final period. "Its just human nature, we always talk about who scored the most points, who carried the team," Vasquez pointed out. "Credit to Landry, because he wasnt playing at all and look at what he does. He was the MVP tonight. It wasnt anyone else but him because he didnt score, but he played great defence and that was contagious." Casey tightened his rotation, using just eight players, splitting minutes in the frontcourt amongst Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson The stat(s) - Toronto had a 52-30 advantage on the boards, including a 19-11 edge on the offensive glass. Their 52 rebounds was the most the Raptors have ever tallied in a playoff game. - Valanciunas recorded his second straight double-double in the series - 15 points and 14 rebounds - becoming the first NBA player to total at least 30 points and 30 boards in his first two career playoff games since Ralph Sampson and Sam Perkins in 1985. - DeRozan became the fourth player in Raptors history to score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and Antonio Davis. The quote "Weve been here when people just thought you could come to Toronto and get a win," DeRozan said. "Weve been though all that, frustrating seasons and we want everyone to know that when you play against the Toronto Raptors, youre going to have to fight, youre going to have to bring your game." ' ' '
