Cards all in

NEW YORK — No way anybody was catching Yadier Molina’s ninth-inning shot. And by the time it landed beyond the left-field fence, the St. Louis Cardinals were headed to the World Series.

Molina’s tie-breaking home run and another Game 7 gem by Jeff Suppan helped St. Louis overcome Endy Chavez’s astounding grab, and gave the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday night for the NL championship.

Adam Wainwright wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, striking out St. Louis nemesis Carlos Beltran to end it and leaving a stunned crowd in deflated silence just moments after it had Shea Stadium shaking.

And with that, the Cardinals earned their second pennant in three years and a date with the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night in Game 1 of the World Series.

“Our team deserves it,” Wainwright said. “We battled so hard in the playoffs.”

Molina, a .216 career hitter with only six home runs during the regular season, drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Aaron Heilman into New York’s bullpen for a 3-1 lead in the ninth.

Chavez, who made one of the most memorable postseason catches just three innings earlier, could only stand and watch at the fence as the Mets’ World Series hopes were dashed.

Scott Rolen, robbed of a home run by Chavez in the sixth, got the St. Louis rally started with a single.

But the Mets, resilient throughout their stirring season, nearly came back in the ninth.

With the bases loaded, Wainwright, a rookie filling in for injured closer Jason Isringhausen, froze Beltran with a breaking ball for strike three.

“I can’t let my team down right there,” said Wainwright, who had three saves in the series.

The Cardinals, with their 17th pennant in hand, charged out of the dugout and mobbed Wainwright in front of the mound.

Suppan won the MVP award for two outstanding starts. He limited the Mets to one run and five hits in 15 innings, and once again was at his best in a big game.

Suppan, who won Game 3, is 106-101 lifetime, but 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in five NLCS starts. In 2004, he beat Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the NLCS for St. Louis.

This time, Suppan pitched into the eighth inning and allowed only two hits, none after the first.

“We never gave up. We always believed in ourselves,” Suppan said.