ST. LOUIS -- To compensate for early exits, Jonathan Niese did some extra throwing in his bullpen session. Besides the work, manager Terry Collins thought it was no coincidence the lefty rediscovered his groove in shirt-sleeve weather and paved the way for the New York Mets slump-buster. "I knew he was going to get it going," Collins said after Nieses bounce-back game on a clear, sunny, 76-degree day helped the Mets end their losing streak at six with a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. "As the weather starts to get warm, youre going to see the Jon Niese were all accustomed to seeing." Daniel Murphy and David Wright combined for five hits and three RBIs against Adam Wainwright. Niese (3-4) allowed two runs on six hits in 7 1-3 innings, his longest outing of the season. He ended his four-game losing streak over five starts since a win at Minnesota on April 12. "Every pitch felt good," Niese said. "Obviously, our game plan was just to keep attacking the hitters. Yeah, it felt good." The Mets avoided a four-game sweep by getting to the Cardinals ace. Wainwright (5-3) was coming off a two-hit shutout in which he no-hit the Rockies for 7 1-3 innings. "They had a great frame of mind," Collins said. "I thought they had great energy. Jon pitching well really helped us, too." Murphy went 4 for 4 to match his career high, doubled twice and walked and totalled 10 hits in the series. Hes 6 for 9 against Wainwright, and swinging well enough that Collins has thought about moving him from the second slot to fifth for RBI potential. "I think we were just able to string together a lot of quality at-bats," Murphy said. "There were a lot of good at-bats other than mine. It was nice to be able to feel you contribute." Wright doubled, singled and drove in two runs, plus started two double plays at third base against cleanup man Allen Craig. "Thats the name of the game sometimes," Craig said. "You hit it hard and it goes right at them." The Cardinals have never swept the Mets in a four-game series at home, almost always playing three-game sets. Pete Kozma and Carlos Beltran had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, who lost for just the third time in 15 games. Wainwright faltered after allowing one hit with four strikeouts the first time through the order, but after his outing ended at 87 pitches he confessed, "Yeah, I was surprised." He allowed three earned runs in six innings, and is 1-4 with a 7.29 ERA against the Mets for his career. "I made a couple of mistakes over the middle of the plate," Wainwright said. "I dont think its time to start talking about fatigue or anything like that." Niese had permitted 15 runs in 8 1-3 innings in his previous two starts, but kept the Cardinals off-balance. Niese is 3-1 in five starts against the Cardinals. He had three strikeouts and two walks to make him even on the year with 24 strikeouts and walks. Bobby Parnell finished for his fourth save in six chances. Newly signed Mets centre fielder Rick Ankiel appeared to get a late jump on Kozmas apparent routine fly ball and couldnt make a diving catch for an RBI double that put the Cardinals in front in the second. Jordany Valdespin beat out a bunt with two outs in the Mets third and scored on a headfirst slide on Murphys double. Wrights single put the Mets ahead. Murphy and Wright doubled to start the sixth to give Niese a two-run cushion. Wright later scored on Lucas Dudas sacrifice fly. Murphy leads the Mets with 13 multihit games and is a career .360 hitter against the Cardinals. Ankiel was credited with a ground-rule double leading off the seventh on a ball down the third-base line that appeared to glance off an ushers leg before hitting a railing. He was thrown out at second off the carom, and replays showed the usher barely made it out of the way. NOTES: The Mets Matt Harvey (4-0, 1.44) opposes Edwin Jackson (1-5, 6.02) and to start a three-game series in Chicago Friday while Jaime Garcia (4-2, 2.88) opposes Wily Peralta (3-3, 5.40) to begin a three-game series against the Brewers. ... Mets 1B Ike Davis struck out four times while struggling against breaking balls and was 0 for-5. ... 1B umpire Tim Timmons missed a half-inning early in the game, returning before the bottom of the fourth. No reason was given for the absence. ... Since 2000, the Mets are 16-31 against the Cardinals in St. Louis. ... Mets starters had been 1-7 with a 5.72 ERA the previous 13 games. ... Seth Maness, who got the win Wednesday after allowing Ankiels tying two-run homer in the seventh, is the Cardinals only player since 1900 to earn three victories in relief in his first five career appearances. Jason Simontacchi won his first three relief appearances in 2003 after beginning his career in the rotation. 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A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians attempt to complete a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Wednesday while handing the Twins their 13th straigth loss.The first two contests were one-run games with Cleveland winning 1-0 in 10 innings on Monday and 5-4 on Tuesday.The Indians are expected to have a new player Wednesday as the club, according to multiple reports, has reached an agreement with the Oakland Athletics on a trade for outfielder Coco Crisp. The official announcement will be made Wednesday. Its not known whether Crisp will be in uniform for Wednesdays game, or Friday for the start of a three-game series with Miami at Progressive Field.In winning the first two games of the Minnesota series, the Indians received good work from their bullpen, particularly Tuesday. Struggling starter Josh Tomlin was removed in the second inning, but five relievers combined to pitch 7 1/3 scoreless innings on three hits.Thats a lot to ask of your bullpen, but we found a way to win, Indians manager Terry Francona said.Although the acquisition of Andrew Miller in a trade with the Yankees a month ago still gets most of the attention, right-hander Dan Otero has been an equally important member of the bullpen. Otero got the win Tuesday, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings, with three strikeouts and no walks. In 50 appearances this year, he is 4-1 with a 1.25 ERA.Hes like a wildcard for us out there, Francona said. He can pitch anywhere, and all hee does is gets outs.dddddddddddd Thats really valuable.The Twins, meanwhile, would just like to win a game in order to avoid making some unwanted history. The Twins 12-game losing streak is the third-longest in team history. The team record is 14 set in 1982.Not even a sensational season by Brian Dozier is enough to make Twins manager Paul Molitor forget about the fact that the team has gone two weeks without a win.Dozier homered on the first pitch Tuesday, giving him 12 home runs in August. Thats the most home runs in a month by a Twins player since Harmon Killebrew hit 12 in July 1969.Thats nice, but now is not the time to consider what individuals have done. Not when were trying to get out of this (losing) streak, Molitor said.The pitching matchup Wednesday features Clevelands Corey Kluber versus Pat Dean (1-4, 6.24).Kluber (14-8, 3.07 ERA) hasnt lost a game since July 3. In nine starts since, he is 7-0 with a 1.75 ERA. In 16 career starts versus the Twins, he is 6-5 with a 3.76 ERA after a 6-3 loss in mid-May when he gave up four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.Dean (1-4, 6.24) makes his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester. In his last start Aug. 26 at Toronto, he was the losing pitcher in a 15-8 loss to the Blue Jays. He gave up six runs on eight hits, including two home runs. ' ' '