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(Sports Network) - Right-hander Tony Armas makes his first start of the 2008 season tonight, when the New York Mets take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the second of four games at Busch Stadium.

Armas, the son of former big-league outfielder Tony Armas, initially reached the majors with Montreal and later won a career-best 12 games in 29 starts for the Expos in 2002.

He pitched with the Expos/Nationals franchise through 2006, then spent last season in Pittsburgh, where he made 31 appearances -- 15 starts. He gets the call for a spot start for the Mets and is expected to assume long relief duties for the since-departed Claudio Vargas.

Armas, 30, is 3-2 with a 3.98 earned run average in nine career appearances -- seven starts -- against the Cardinals. The Mets just purchased the contract of Armas from Triple-A New Orleans on Monday.

For St. Louis, right-hander Todd Wellemeyer makes his second start since missing a turn in the rotation with a tender pitching elbow.

The 29-year-old won five straight decisions between May 4 and June 5, then was touched for eight hits and eight runs over 3 1/3 innings of a 20-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

He's pitched once since, on June 26, and allowed four hits in five scoreless innings of a 3-2 Cardinals loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Wellemeyer has made four appearances -- one start -- against the Mets in his career, allowing eight hits and six runs over 10 2/3 innings.

On Monday, Kyle Lohse threw seven strong innings to win his seventh consecutive decision as the Cardinals blew out the Mets, 7-1, on a night Mark Mulder made his return to the majors.

Lohse (10-2) allowed five hits and one unearned run while walking two batters and logging four strikeouts to remain unbeaten over his last 10 outings and hasn't lost since May 8 at Colorado. The seven-game winning streak ties the longest of his career.

Mulder yielded two hits and struck out a batter while pitching the ninth inning in his first major league game of 2008. The Cardinals left-hander is trying to work his way back from two injury-plagued seasons. He had surgery on his left shoulder at the end of the 2006 season and missed almost all of 2007. Monday marked his first-career relief appearance in the majors.

Albert Pujols drove in two runs and Chris Duncan clubbed a two-run homer for the Cardinals, winners of three straight following a three-game skid. Aaron Miles extended his hitting streak to 12 games, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored in the opener of the four-game series.

John Maine (8-6) was charged with seven hits and five runs -- three earned -- over four innings for New York, losers in three of its last four games.

The Mets committed three errors and scored their lone run on an error.

New York won five of seven versus the Cardinals last season, sweeping a three- game set at Busch Stadium.