Griffin Canning tossed six solid innings and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter for the host New York Mets, who defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.Mark Vientos homered for the Mets, who scored all their runs in the second inning while snapping a two-game skid. Francisco Lindor had three singles, including an RBI hit, while Brett Baty had a run-scoring single among his two hits.Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor also had hits for New York.Brendan Donovan had an RBI single for the Cardinals, who have lost two of three. Donovan is batting .460 (23-of-50) during a 13-game hitting streak.Victor Scott II and Alec Burleson had the Cardinals’ other hits.Canning (2-1), who was scheduled to start Wednesday but was scratched with an illness, gave up one run on three hits and two walks while striking out a season-high eight.Reed Garrett walked one in the seventh and AJ Minter threw a perfect eighth before Edwin Diaz notched his fourth save by striking out two in a hitless ninth.