METS BLINK; ON THE BRINK – WEAVER, BULLPEN BAFFLE AMAZIN’S IN GAME 5

GAME 5: Cardinals 4 – Mets 2

ST. LOUIS – For the Mets, it’s about playing tomorrow.

The Mets are a loss away from finishing the year, and they have to win tonight’s Game 6 of the NLCS at Shea to avoid elimination by the Cardinals. They then have to win tomorrow in a Game 7 as well.

Last night at Busch Stadium, with the series tied, the Mets fell to St. Louis 4-2 in Game 5.

They’re now trailing in the bestofseven series 3-2, and they are in a 100 percent must-win position.

“We know we can get back,” Carlos Beltran said, “and we know we can win this.” It will be pretty hard. John Maine is on the mound for the Mets tonight, with Cards ace Chris Carpenter opposing him.

It’s a bad matchup for the Mets, though they scored five runs off Carpenter in Game 2.

If there’s a Game 7, the Met starter is undetermined, while the Cards will pitch Jeff Suppan.

“We better respond, or we’re going home. Bottom line,” Paul Lo Duca said. “You can’t go home and cry.” The Mets only scored two runs last night, getting only three hits after the fourth inning.

Jeff Weaver held them to two runs on six hits in six innings – “The biggest key to our win was the way he pitched,” Card manager Tony La Russa said – with the Card bullpen tossing three shutout frames.

The Mets scored two runs in the fourth inning. They were blanked in the other eight frames.

“They have to beat us twice, and we have to beat them once,” Albert Pujols said. “We have to make sure we do it.”

The Mets had an opportunity to tie it in the eighth, as with one out, Carlos Delgado singled and David Wright doubled. But with men on second and third, lefty reliever Randy Flores got Shawn Green to pop to center, and righty closer Adam Wainwright caught Jose Valentin looking at a curveball for strike three.

Tom Glavine, who spun seven shutout innings in Game 1, only hurled four-plus frames last night, getting taken out with two on, none out and a run in in the fifth. He gave up three runs on seven hits.

St. Louis took the lead off Glavine in the fifth with the score tied 2-2. David Eckstein opened with a bloop single just over Jose Reyes’ head, and Preston Wilson smacked an RBI double to right-center to put the Cards up, prompting Busch Stadium’s fans to shake their towels.

In the fourth, the Mets had taken the initial lead, as Delgado opened with a leadoff walk against Weaver. Wright popped out but Green hit a ground-rule double off the right-field chalk, and Valentin pulled a two-run double to right, clapping his hands at second base, as the Mets held a 2-0 edge.

He didn’t get several close pitches in the first couple of innings, but Glavine threw three shutout frames to start the game, making it 16 zeroes for him in the playoffs so far. With one out in the fourth, though, Pujols came up.

Pujols had said after Game 1 that Glavine “wasn’t good” in that contest, and last night the slugger prevented Glavine from earning revenge. Pujols slammed a 2-2 Glavine pitch over the left-field fence, a 371foot solo shot that was Pujols’ first RBI of the series.

“I made a mistake,” Glavine said.

Later in the inning, Ronnie Belliard’s RBI single tied the game 2-2.

In the sixth, pinch-hitter Chris Duncan slammed a solo homer to right off Pedro Feliciano for a two-run lead.

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Mets vs. Cardinals

NLCS glance

Game Date Site Time TV Radio

Game 1 Thursday Mets 2, Cardinals 0

Game 2 Friday Cardinals 9, Mets 6

Game 3 Saturday Cardinals 5, Mets 0

Game 4 Sunday Mets 12, Cardinals 5

Game 5 Last night Cardinals 4, Mets 2 (St. L. leads, 3-2)