NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

NEW YORK -- As went the regular season, so went the National League Championship Series, so went the ninth inning of Game 7. The Cardinals have taken their time to close things out all season, but they've gotten it done every time.
Adam Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, securing a 3-1 win for St. Louis over the Mets on Thursday.
After Scott Rolen was victimized in the sixth by a stunning homer-saving catch from lefty fielder Endy Chavez, Yadier Molina hit a game-winning two-run homer off Aaron Heilman in the top of the ninth inning. Molina's homer went to virtually the same part of the ballpark as Rolen's near-miss, just a bit farther.
The Cardinals will play the American League champion Tigers in the World Series beginning on Saturday night in Detroit.
Molina's homer followed a tremendous at-bat by Rolen in which the third baseman, who struggled for most of the series, recovered from an 0-2 hole to single to left field. Molina, moved up to the seventh spot in the order for Game 7, brought himself and Rolen home with the biggest hit of
his career.

3-1

St. Louis advances to its second World Series in three years
thanks in large part to the bat of its young catcher. Molina tallied eight hits, two homers and six RBIs in the series.
The Cardinals won their 17th pennant in franchise history by gutting out a difficult series against the NL's best regular-season team. They became the first Major League team since 1975 to win a series after losing Game 6 on the road.
They did it by striking yet another blow to the Mets' bullpen, considered one of the team's greatest strengths and most pronounced advantages entering the series. The St. Louis bullpen, meanwhile, locked down once again.
Randy Flores picked up the victory for a three-up, three-down showing after Jeff Suppan issued a leadoff walk in the eighth.
Suppan did not figure in the decision, but he certainly factored in the victory. Following up his Game 7 win in 2004, the right-hander pitched seven brilliant innings, allowing a run on two hits -- and no base hits after the first inning.

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A two-out flurry got New York ahead in its first turn at-bat, but the Cardinals responded with a critical run in the next half-inning. After singles by Jim Edmonds and Molina, Ronnie Belliard pushed a bunt to the right side that scored Edmonds to tie the game.
Suppan set down the first two Mets on groundouts in the first, but Beltran poked a double down the third-base line to give New York its first baserunner. Carlos Delgado walked, and David Wright dropped a perfectly placed bloop single into shallow right field for a 1-0 Mets lead.
From there, the right-hander was outstanding, not allowing so much as another hit. He was lifted after a leadoff walk to Beltran in the eighth.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.