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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. Kansas City Royals Store . 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. Royals Jerseys China . "All he says is, its crazy," DeMar DeRozan told reporters following Torontos win over the Pistons Wednesday. The Raptors longest-serving members, Johnson and DeRozan have had two coaches and 56 different teammates in five seasons with the club, all without appearing in a single playoff game. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No.El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Demario Richard posted four touchdowns and Kweishi Brown came up with a key late interception as No. 15 Arizona State held on to take out Duke, 36-31, in the Sun Bowl. Richard racked up just 63 yards of total offense, yet crossed the goal line twice on rushes and twice more on Taylor Kelly passes for the Sun Devils (10-3). Its a great feeling, Richard said. Its hard coming in as a freshman. I knew my role was increasing. I just stepped up and played my part. Kelly finished 24-of-34 for 240 yards, while Jaelen Strong led all receivers with 103 yards on seven receptions. Anthony Boone completed only 15 of his 31 attempts for 193 yards, two scores and that late pick for the Blue Devils (9-4). Jamison Crowder also threw a TD pass and racked up 102 yards on seven catches while also recording a 68-yard punt return score. Isaac Blakeney, Shaquille Powell and Johnell Barnes each posted a touchdown reception in defeat. Powell also totaled 117 yards on 29 carries. Boone found Barnes for a 14-yard score with 10:10 to play and Duke pulled to 30-24. On the Blue Devils next drive, punter Will Monday hit Barnes for 30 yards to the ASU 20, on 4th-and-11, then a potential interception by Damarious Randall at the three on the following snap was overturned since the ball hit the ground. A reprieve given, Duke didnt waste the chance as Blakeneys 12-yard TD catch from Crowder on 4th-and-2 plus the extra point gave it a 31-30 edge with 5:03 to play. Kalen Ballage took the momentum right back, when he returned the kick 96 yards to the Duke 4, and on the next play Kelly hit Richard for the go-ahead score. It felt great, Ballage said. I told the seniors, I got to do something. They helped me grow. That was going through my head. I really wanted to do that for them. The Blue Devils rreceived the ball on their own 29 and quickly moved to the red zone. Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys. However, Boones bid for the end zone on 3rd-and-10 from the ASU 14 was picked off by Brown. Kelly knelt on three straight plays to run off the remaining time. We shot ourselves in the foot early. Unfortunately, we got in a position to win the game and didnt win it. If you give up a play in the kicking game, generally it will haunt you, said Duke head coach David Cutcliffe. Im not dejected about the way we played or frustrated. I am sad we lost the ballgame because of our seniors. Richards 9-yard run capped ASUs first drive of the contest, then Zane Gonzalez added a 28-yard make on its ensuing possession. Duke got on the board when Ross Martin converted a 40-yard try late in the first quarter before Gonzalez made a 38-yarder just over two minutes into the second. Richard broke through again and hit the end zone from 1 yard out midway through the second and the Sun Devils led 20-3, though the Blue Devils came right back on a 14-yard Boone-to-Powell connection. Duke clawed back within three as Crowder returned a punt 68 yards, but had an interception on ASUs next drive overturned by replay and failed to score for the remainder of the half. Richards 11-yard TD catch provided a 27-17 edge for the Sun Devils early in the third quarter and Gonzalez capped another ASU drive with a 47-yard boot and 13-point margin heading to the fourth. Game Notes Arizona State has won at least 10 games in consecutive seasons for the second time in program history, following a four-year stretch from 1970-73 ... Richard matched Woody Greens school bowl record of four TDs, set in the 1972 Fiesta Bowl victory (49-35) over Missouri ... Duke totaled 400 yards of offense to 392 for ASU. ' ' '