Cardinals avoid sweep with victory over Mets

Carlos Carrasco and Dakota Hudson exchanged zeroes across the first two innings of the Mets’ series finale in St. Louis Sunday. Carrasco pitched around a bit of trouble in the first with a clutch strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt with a man on third and one out, though Goldschmidt would come back to haunt him later. Hudson, meanwhile, was bailed out by his center fielder Richie Palacios, who robbed the red hot DJ Stewart of a home run to end the second.

The Mets broke through first in the top of the third third thanks to more of their recent crisp play. After Omar Narvaez led off with a walk, Rafael Ortega replaced him at first on a force out. With Ortega in motion, Jonathan Arauz singled up the…