(UPDATED)Fernando Nieve will seek to keep his surprising run going tonight when the right-hander takes the mound for the Mets against St. Louis in the third game of a four-game set at Citi Field. Nieve has been a revelation for the Mets so far, beating the Yankees and the defending AL champion Rays in his first two starts while compiling a 1.84 ERA. That’s not what anyone expected when the waiver pickup from the Astros was made an emergency starter after John Maine‘s DL stint.

For his career, Nieve is 4-0 with a 2.68 ERA in the month of June. He has faced the Cardinals three times in his career, but all were in relief. Nieve allowed two hits, one homer, three runs and four walks in those appearances, which covered 4 2/3 innings.

Nieve will take on righty Brad Thompson, who has spent much of his career as a reliever. Thompson moved into the Cardinals’ rotation at the start of this month and is 2-1 in his first four starts.

Here is the 35-34 Mets’ order for the 7:10 p.m. game:

Alex Cora SS

Luis Castillo 2B

David Wright 3B

Ryan Church RF

Fernando Tatis LF

Fernando Martinez CF

Nick Evans 1B

Brian Schneider C

Fernando Nieve RHP (2-0, 1.84)

Nieve’s numbers against the Cardinals’ hitters

The 40-32 Cardinals will counter with:

Skip Schumaker 2B

Colby Rasmus CF

Albert Pujols 1B

Rick Ankiel RF

Chris Duncan LF

Khalil Greene 3B

Jason LaRue C

Brad Thompson RHP (2-2, 3.89)

Brendan Ryan SS

Thompson’s numbers against the Mets’ hitters