Rookie Jose Fernandez outpitched a rusty Jake Westbrook, and the team with the worst record in the majors beat the team with the best record.

Fernandez had a career-high 10 strikeouts in seven innings Friday, and the Miami Marlins spoiled Westbrook’s return from an elbow injury by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4.

The 20-year-old Fernandez (4-3) became the first pitcher under the age of 21 to strike out 10 or more since Felix Hernandez with Seattle in 2007. Relying heavily on breaking balls, he threw a career-high 107 pitches and allowed three runs, two earned.

”I was looking forward to this start,” Fernandez said. ”They’re a great team. They’ve got great hitters. Everybody knows the Cardinals, one through nine, can create a mess in two seconds.”

Westbrook (2-2), who had been sidelined with elbow inflammation, went five innings in his first game since May 8. He allowed five runs, two of them unearned because of a misplayed grounder by second baseman Matt Carpenter, and his ERA rose to 2.05.

”He wasn’t as sharp as he normally is, but he’s coming back from an injury,” manager Mike Matheny said.

Fernandez settled down after giving up two runs and three hits in the first inning. He had a 1-2-3 third, striking out Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday and Allen Craig.

”He really was in complete control of that game after the first inning,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. ”He set the tone against a great team, a great lineup, and it was fun to watch him. He can pitch.”

Fernandez improved to 4-1 over his past eight starts with a 2.42 ERA. He also singled home a run.

”He did a lot of things right,” Matheny said. ”We knew he was going to be a handful.”

Giancarlo Stanton had three hits, including a two-run double for the Marlins, who won despite going 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position. They’ve won seven of their past 13 games, their best stretch this season.

Beltran singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, but Marlins relievers retired the final five batters. Steve Cishek pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.

Plate umpire Phil Cuzzi reversed himself on a call in the fifth, which led to a Marlins run. When Ed Lucas tried to bunt, Cuzzi initially said the pitch had been fouled. But after Redmond came onto the field and pointed out the blood on Lucas’ hand, Cuzzi ruled he had been hit by the pitch.

”He said, ‘OK, I’ll give it to you.’ I said, ‘Thank you,”’ Redmond said. ”It broke his skin. He took his glove off, and he had a little cut there. It was bleeding, so it wasn’t a tough sell.”

Lucas then scored on Stanton’s double to make it 5-2.

Carpenter mishandled Derek Dietrich’s grounder for an error to start the second inning, and Miami went on to score two unearned runs. Jeff Mathis had an RBI groundout, and Fernandez followed with a two-out run-scoring single for his third RBI this year.

”I keep getting lucky, man,” Fernandez said.

Miami went ahead to stay in the fourth on a single by Dietrich and a run-scoring double by Greg Dobbs. That was one of eight hits off Westbrook.

”I felt good enough to pitch better than that,” Westbrook said. ”Overall my arm felt good. Just came out on the wrong end.”

The Cardinals scored in the first on consecutive RBI singles by Craig and Yadier Molina. The hits came after an error by third baseman Lucas, and one run was unearned.

Jon Jay had a two-out RBI double for the Cardinals in the sixth. David Freese doubled home a run in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Adam Wainwright used to be a creature of routine leading up to each start.

”Same sleeping shirt the night before,” the St. Louis Cardinals ace said. ”I couldn’t wear blue jeans. I had to wear the color red. Are you kidding me? It was ridiculous. If I didn’t have any of that, or worse, if something was thrown off, then instantly I was thinking, ‘Oh, man, I’m in trouble.’ And that’s ridiculous. It has nothing to do with getting anyone out. I figured that out somewhere along the line.”

With rain falling in the morning and clashing forecasts for the afternoon, Wainwright wasn’t sure whether he’d pitch at all Thursday.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told him about 80 minutes before start time to get ready, so Wainwright shortened his pregame routine and then pitched seven scoreless innings to become the major leagues’ first 10-game winner. In a classic pitching matchup, his 2-1 victory over the New York Mets sent Matt Harvey to his first loss of the season.

”We had two Cy Young candidates going at each other,” said Matt Carpenter, who tripled in the go-ahead run in the third and preserved the lead with a sparkling stop at second base in the ninth.

Some forecasts had predicted up to 3 inches of rain.

”Two days ago, they were talking about we were going to need to build an ark,” Matheny said. ”That’s tough on the starting pitcher. As he’s walking through here an hour-and-a-half before the game, he’s completely out of his routine because he’s hearing conflicting stories of what’s going to happen with weather. But he got his mind together and got into an abbreviated version of his routine and went out and executed.”

After expecting a rain delay, Wainwright did his preparation and warmup – ”kind of a ground routine; it’s not gymnastics, it’s just stretching” – in the clubhouse instead of on the field.

”My whole normal pregame routine was kind of thrown out the window,” he said.

Wainwright (10-3) retired his first 11 batters before David Wright’s single and allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two – including an intentional pass that caused the Mets to pinch hit for Harvey in the seventh. He tied his career best by winning his fifth straight start, dropped his ERA to 2.18 and got his 1,000th strikeout when Wright was called out on a first-inning curveball.

”It wasn’t much fun to be an offensive player today,” Wright said.

Known best in New York for freezing Carlos Beltran with a called third strike to end Game 7 of the 2006 NL championship series, Wainwright had been 0-4 with an 8.46 ERA in four starts against the Mets since his only career win against them, in St. Louis on April 18, 2010.

”I had everybody in the world tell me I had never beat the Mets at their stadium, so it was something I wanted to do,” Wainwright said.

Trevor Rosenthal pitched the eighth, and Edward Mujica allowed a long home run to Marlon Byrd with one out in the ninth. John Buck doubled and took third as Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded to Carpenter, who made a diving backhand stop as he fell and threw to first for the out.

”When it was hit, I thought he had a good chance of getting a base hit up the middle.” Carpenter said.

Josh Satin fouled off two full-count pitches and swung over a splitter as Mujica remained perfect in 19 save chances.

Harvey (5-1) had given up one run and five hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and a walk, ending a 14-start unbeaten streak dating to Sept. 12 but lowering his ERA to 2.04.

”He’s as good as you’re going to face in the big leagues,” Carpenter said. ”He’s got electric stuff. ”

Harvey had no-decisions in eight of his previous nine starts, and the Mets have scored just 18 runs while he’s been in the game during his last 10 outings, according to STATS.

”If I go seven zeros, we’re still playing the ballgame.” Harvey said. ”It’s an incredible lineup. You really have to be locked in one through nine.”

St. Louis went ahead in the third when Pete Kozma hit an opposite-field single to right for the first hit of the game and Carpenter tripled past Byrd, who tried for a sprawling catch in right but allowed the ball to bounce past him.

New York’s bullpen gave up a run in the eighth, when Carpenter and Beltran singled off Scott Rice, and Matt Holliday and Allen Craig singled against LaTroy Hawkins.

A day of dazzling defense included Craig’s diving stop at first base in the eighth to rob Omar Quintanilla of a hit, two nifty pickups by Daniel Descalso on slow rollers to third in the seventh and a pair of challenging catches by center fielder John Jay. He ran to the warning track for Lucas Duda’s two-out drive with a runner on second in the fourth and nabbed a wind-blown drive by Jordany Valdespin leading off the sixth.

”Our guys played a flawless game,” Wainwright said.

Next month, Wainwright and Harvey could find themselves in the same clubhouse at Citi Field – on the NL All-Star team.

”That’s a long time from now,” Wainwright said. ”I’ve got to get a lot of different hitters out before I start worrying about All-Star hitters.”

— Associated Press —