Mike Pelfrey pitched eight solid innings, Chris Carter homered and drove in two runs and Josh Thole added two RBIs as the New York Mets earned a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Pelfrey (12-7) allowed two runs – one earned – on six hits in eight innings for the victory. Pelfrey had five strikeouts and two walks while throwing 80 of his 119 pitches for strikes.

The Mets (61-61) roughed up Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens (2-10), who allowed seven runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings to take the loss.

New York scored all the runs it needed in the first inning when Carter, Ike Davis and Thole each had RBI singles. Carter hit his third homer and Thole drove in a run in the third inning.

Carlos Beltran added an RBI single while Jose Reyes and David Wright each had three hits and scored two runs for the Mets, who had 15 hits in the opener of the three-game series.

Ryan Doumit hit his 10th homer and Andrew McCutchen had an RBI single for the Pirates (40-82), who have lost four in a row and are 4-11 in their last 15 home games.