ST. LOUIS — Jeff Suppan just about did it all for St. Louis, hitting a rare home run and pitching a tidy masterpiece that gave the Cardinals control of the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets.

Scott Spiezio smacked another big triple and St. Louis dazzled on defense, dominating the Mets for a 5-0 victory last night and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

New York lost yet another pitcher to injury when an ineffective Steve Trachsel was clocked by Preston Wilson's comebacker. On offense, the Mets' normally imposing lineup hardly threatened against Suppan, who allowed three hits in eight crisp innings and homered against Trachsel for the second time in two years.

"They say I don't smile in the dugout. I was smiling there, man," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I thought we got a one-run gift."

St. Louis moved within two wins of a trip to the World Series to face the Detroit Tigers, who polished off a four-game sweep of Oakland in the ALCS earlier yesterday.

Only 24 hours earlier, the Mets were in great shape. After tagging Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, New York led Game 2 by two runs with two outs and none on in the seventh inning.

But the Mets' vaunted bullpen faltered, St. Louis rallied, and the Cardinals grabbed all the momentum with a 9-6 victory.

"I don't think there's any real correlation or carry-over from last night to tonight," New York manager Willie Randolph said. "We'll get some rest tonight and I guarantee you we'll be ready to play tomorrow."

Now the Mets, who cruised to an NL East title and tied the crosstown Yankees for the best record in baseball at 97-65, will pin their hopes on erratic lefty Oliver Perez in Game 4.

With a 3-13 record and 6.55 ERA, he'll face Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes.

"We played loose and easy all year long. We're not going to change that now," Randolph said. "We know who we are, no one has to tell us about it."

Suppan, a 12-game winner during the regular season, struck out four and walked one, throwing 69 of his 99 pitches for strikes in an absolute gem.

"He was so focused and kept making great pitches," La Russa said.

Leading off the second, Suppan connected on an 0-2 offering and the ball bounced off the top of the left-field fence.

"I don't know. I swung and it ran into my bat," Suppan said.