Cards 1

Mets 0

They say momentum is only as good as your next day’s pitcher. Well, Steve Trachsel was pretty damn good last night against the Cardinals.

So maybe the Mets’ momentum is only as good as their next day’s hitters, because the men wielding bats were downright anemic during a 1-0 loss to St. Louis. The Mets (19-21) only mustered four hits off Cards righty Jeff Suppan and two relievers, squandering a chance to reach the .500 mark and continue their bid for respectability in the NL East.

“Tonight is tough,” said a frustrated Cliff Floyd, who flied out to left for the final out against Steve Kline a night after his game-winning single. “We damn sure wish we could’ve come out on top.”

Trachsel threw seven shutout innings, allowing five hits, but wasn’t a factor in the decision. St. Louis manufactured the game’s only run in the eighth inning, as a two-out steal of second by Edgar Renteria was followed by Scott Rolen’s RBI double to the power alley in left-center.

The Mets were limited both by injuries, numerous substitutions and questionable moves by manager Art Howe during the pitcher’s duel. Howe’s decisions in the late innings backfired.

Before the game, Mike Cameron was diagnosed with a collateral ligament strain in his right pinkie and is day-to-day. Cameron, hitting .212, said he has a ligament tear and indicated he’ll undergo surgery after the season on it.

And Todd Zeile left the game in the seventh when he was spiked in the right ear by Tony Womack. Zeile walked off the field bloody and with a towel on his ear and needed eight stitches.

After Piazza drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, Cameron pinch-ran and was erased on a fielder’s choice. Cameron could not play the outfield or hit, Howe was told by the training staff. Piazza’s spot was on deck as the winning run in the ninth, but Vance Wilson did not get a chance to bat.

“No, we didn’t feel short-handed,” Wilson said tersely.

“For the most part, we’ve been short-handed all year,” Floyd said.

The Cards manufactured their run even after a sacrifice attempt was snuffed out by Wilson. After Womack managed an infield single in the hole off third baseman Ty Wigginton’s glove, Renteria attempted to lay one down off reliever Mike Stanton. Wilson pounced on it in front of the plate and threw a strike to erase Womack at second.

Ricky Bottalico entered, and he made a mistake by not keeping Renteria close at first. The fleet Cards shortstop had a huge lead and took off during Rolen’s two-out at-bat, swiping second.

“I’m not so sure he had a huge jump,” Bottalico argued.

“If the ball’s on the money, he’s out,” Wilson said of his throw to the shortstop side of the bag.

Rolen followed with a RBI double in the left-center power alley to score the first run of the game.

“He’s on fire. You run into a buzzsaw sometimes,” Bottalico said. “It was a slider that didn’t slide.”

Oddly, Howe started Wigginton at second instead of Danny Garcia, who entered in the eighth as a defensive replacement. Wigginton was in a 0-for-19 slump before his double in the left-center power alley in the fifth.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets reshuffled their infield. Garcia entered at second, Wigginton moved to third, Jason Phillips moved to first and Wilson entered at catcher. Shane Spencer pinch-hit against righty Cal Eldred in the eighth instead of lefty Karim Garcia and flied out. Howe said Spencer’s history with Eldred and his .362 average versus righties was the reason.

Trachsel was locked into a pitcher’s duel with Suppan, who held the Mets scoreless on four hits over six innings.

“We still believe we can get there and beyond,” Piazza said about reaching .500. “We’ve had our setbacks, but we haven’t gotten down. It’s a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing.”