NEW YORK (Interstat) — Dustin May pitched seven shutout innings and the St. Louis Cardinals erupted for four runs in the third inning to blank the New York Mets 7-0 on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

May, who entered with a 3-6 record, allowed five hits and struck out five while walking one in front of 35,175 fans. The game lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes.

The Cardinals, winners of three straight, improved to 36-28. The Mets dropped to 29-37 and have lost four of their last five.

St. Louis broke the game open in the top of the third inning against Mets starter Freddy Peralta. Nolan Gorman drew a leadoff walk, and Nathan Church followed with a ground-ball double to left field, putting runners at second and third. JJ Wetherholt then lined a single to center field, driving in both Gorman and Church for a 2-0 lead.

Ivan Herrera was hit by a pitch, moving Wetherholt to second. After Alec Burleson struck out, Jordan Walker doubled to left, scoring Wetherholt and sending Herrera to third. Lars Nootbaar grounded out to second base, scoring Herrera for a 4-0 advantage. Masyn Winn grounded out to end the inning.

The Cardinals added two runs in the fifth. Herrera led off with a single to center, and Burleson followed with a home run to left-center field, his ninth of the season, pushing the lead to 6-0.

St. Louis capped the scoring in the seventh. Herrera doubled to center field, a ball deflected by right fielder Carson Benge. Burleson then doubled to right, scoring Herrera for a 7-0 lead.

The Mets managed just five hits and never advanced a runner past second base. Their best scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning. Juan Soto singled with one out, and after Jared Young reached on a forceout that erased Soto, A.J. Ewing singled to put runners at first and second. Marcus Semien flied out to center to end the threat.

New York also put a runner in scoring position in the second inning when Ewing led off with a double, but he was left stranded as Semien and Brett Baty struck out.

Peralta (4-5) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two.

Cionel Perez pitched a scoreless ninth for the Mets, allowing one hit. Joey Gerber worked two innings, giving up three hits and one earned run while striking out one.

For the Mets, Ewing had two hits in four at-bats. Soto went 1 for 3 with a walk. Benge singled in four trips. Alvarez was 1 for 3. Baty, Semien, Young and Vientos combined to go 0 for 10.

The Cardinals will look to sweep the two-game series Wednesday night before traveling to Minnesota for a weekend series against the Twins. The Mets will host the Cardinals again Wednesday, then return home to face the Atlanta Braves in a three-game set starting Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 7, New York 6. The Mets were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5, and Interstat’s ELO system gave them a 51.60 percent probability to win. The total score of 7 went over the over/under line of 7.5.