New York ? It’s a baseball axiom as old as pitching itself, and David Wells knows all about it.

“Strike one is the best pitch,” Wells noted. “You key off that.”

Armed with that piece of pitching wisdom, the 41-year-old Wells threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 31 batters he faced Tuesday night, coming within one out of a shutout and pitching the San Diego Padres past the New York Mets, 3-1.

The only hits against the 41-year-old left-hander until the ninth were a pair of first-inning singles to Jeff Keppinger and Gerald Williams. The Mets knocked Wells out of the game with two outs in the ninth on a double by Williams and Richard Hidalgo’s RBI single.

Trevor Hoffman came in and struck out Mike Cameron on three pitches for his 32nd save.

Wells shrugged off the incomplete game.

“Every pitcher who goes that far wants to finish,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to be. It didn’t happen. No big deal.”

What was a big deal was the win for the Padres, who are in the National League wild-card chase and doing it in New York, a place Wells loves and the city where he once pitched a perfect game for the Yankees.

He still gets excited pitching in New York, even at his advanced baseball age.

“I get fired up here,” he said. “It’s a great town. It’s a lot of fun. The people here respect me. It’s the best city in the world. You’ve got to get fired up when you come to New York, pitching on either side.”

San Diego pitcher David Wells delivers against the New York Mets. Wells took a shutout into the ninth inning, and the Padres defeated the Mets, 3-1, Tuesday night in New York.

Wells (8-7) has flourished on the road. Tuesday’s win his fifth straight road victory, and his only loss away from home came on April 19 at San Francisco. He struck out four and walked none and came within one out of his 13th career shutout. It would’ve also been his first complete game of the year — and 53rd of his career.

“It’s been a while since I finished,” said Wells, whose last complete game was June 17, 2003. “I had that in mind.”

Padres manager Bruce Bochy heaped praise on Wells.

“He’s a pleasure to watch,” Bochy said. “He’s a complete pitcher with command on both sides of the plate. He knows what he’s doing.”

San Diego nicked Mets starter Kris Benson (10-10) for a run in the fourth when Mark Loretta drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on Phil Nevin’s one-out single to right that fell just out of the reach of a diving Hidalgo. Loretta advanced to third on a fly out by Ryan Klesko and scored on a two-out RBI single by Sean Burroughs.

Cubs 13, Brewers 4

Chicago — Moises Alou homered twice and had a career-high six RBIs, and Derrek Lee hit a grand slam, leading Chicago over Milwaukee and sending the Brewers to their seventh straight loss. Alou hit a three-run homer in the first inning, a two-run homer in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the seventh as Chicago won for the sixth time in seven games and opened a one-game lead in the NL wild-card race over San Francisco. Alou, who has 31 homers, reached 30 for the third time in his career.

Reds 4, Cardinals 3 10 innings

Cincinnati — Julian Tavarez allowed the game-winning run to score in the 10th inning on Darren Bragg’s single. Tavarez (5-4) gave up a leadoff single in the 10th to Juan Castro, who advanced on Jason LaRue’s sacrifice. Jacob Cruz walked and Bragg singled to right, with Castro beating the throw to the plate.

Braves 6, Rockies 5

Atlanta — Rafael Furcal went 4-for-4, including a two-run triple in Atlanta’s four-run sixth inning, and Eli Marrero drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the seventh. Marrero and Julio Franco each went 3-for-4 for the Braves.

Astros 4, Phillies 2

Houston — Lance Berkman and Mike Lamb hit RBI singles in the eighth inning, and Houston used a rare relief appearance by Roy Oswalt to defeat Philadelphia. Houston won for the seventh time in nine games.

Dodgers 10, Expos 2

Montreal — Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam to become the first player to reach 40 home runs this year, and Alex Cora homered and had five RBIs to lead Los Angeles over Montreal. Los Angeles scored eight times in the fifth, its biggest inning of the season. Beltre connected off Rocky Biddle (4-7) for his fourth career slam, his second this season.

Pirates 3, D’backs 1

Pittsburgh — Oliver Perez pitched eight sharp innings, Daryle Ward homered, and Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak. Pirates left fielder Jason Bay reached over the wall to take away a two-run homer from Alex Cintron in the first, and Perez faced few problems after that.

Marlins 9, Giants 1

Miami — Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to cap a seven-run first inning, and Mike Lowell drove in five runs, helping Florida defeat San Francisco.