NEW YORK (Interstat) — Jordan Walker homered and drove in four runs, Andre Pallante pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the New York Mets 9-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Walker, the designated hitter, went 2 for 5 and delivered the decisive blow in a three-run fourth inning that broke the game open. Nelson Velázquez added a two-run homer and Alec Burleson also went deep for St. Louis, which has won two straight since dropping the opener of the four-game series Monday.

Pallante (7-4) allowed two runs on three hits, walked two and struck out five over six innings. He retired the final six batters he faced after the Mets scored their only runs in the fourth. The right-hander has now won three consecutive starts, including a 5-3 victory over Texas on June 3 and a 6-5 win against the Chicago Cubs on May 29.

The Cardinals jumped on Mets starter David Peterson early. JJ Wetherholt led off the game with a single to center, moved to second on a walk to Iván Herrera and advanced to third on Alec Burleson’s groundout. Walker then lined a single to center, scoring Wetherholt and sending Herrera to third. Lars Nootbaar walked to load the bases before Masyn Winn grounded into a force out that scored Herrera from third.

St. Louis added two more in the third when Winn walked and Velázquez crushed a 1-0 pitch to left-center field, his second homer of the season.

The Mets got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. A.J. Ewing walked with one out and Francisco Alvarez followed by launching his fifth homer to left field, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

But the Cardinals answered immediately in the top of the fifth. Wetherholt singled with one out, Herrera walked and Jordan Walker deposited a 2-0 pitch over the center-field wall for his 17th homer of the season, giving St. Louis a 7-2 lead.

Burleson added a solo homer in the ninth, his 10th, off reliever Jonathan Pintaro.

Pallante worked through a tough second inning when Jared Young doubled and later reached third on a groundout, but the right-hander struck out Alvarez to end the threat. He also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third after a single, a hit batter and a walk, getting Young to ground out to shortstop.

Matt Svanson pitched two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. JoJo Romero worked a perfect ninth with one strikeout.

Mets starter Austin Warren (1-3) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out two.

New York managed only three hits all night. Alvarez’s homer was the only extra-base hit for the Mets. Shortstop Bo Bichette went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, and second baseman Marcus Semien struck out twice.

Velázquez finished 1 for 4 with two RBIs. Wetherholt, Herrera and José Fermín each had two hits for the Cardinals, who totaled 11 hits.

The game lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 34,238.

St. Louis improved to 37-28 while the Mets fell to 29-38. The Cardinals won the series opener 7-0 on Tuesday, while the Mets lost their second straight overall.

New York had won two of its previous three games, including a 7-3 victory at San Diego on Sunday. The Mets have lost five of their last seven at home.

The Cardinals travel to Minnesota for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, while the Mets host the Atlanta Braves for three games 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. The total of 11 runs went under the over-under line of 8.5. Interstat’s ELO system gave New York a 51.60 percent probability to win.