New York ? Pulsing ballpark, pouring rain, nothing shook Jeff Suppan.

Because when it came to the postseason, once again Suppan was super.

Suppan is the biggest reason why the St. Louis Cardinals are going to the World Series, pitching two gems against the New York Mets that made him the MVP of the NL championship series.

His Game 7 effort Thursday night – seven-plus innings, two hits, one run – steadied the Cardinals and helped them win, 3-1, to take the pennant.

“I’ll tell you what, there’s always peaks and valleys,” Suppan said. “I think we were able today – the whole year – to make them plains. And I think that was the key: We never gave up, we always believed in ourselves, and I’m just proud to be a part of the St. Louis Cardinals tonight.”

Suppan put the Cardinals ahead in the series with a win in Game 3, pitching eight shutout innings and also hitting a home run.

Not bad for a pitcher with a career record of 106-101. Then again, he’s often at his best in big games.

Suppan is 2-1 with a 1.69 earned-run average in five NLCS starts. In 2004, he outpitched Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the NLCS to lead St. Louis over Houston.

Suppan pitched a pair of clinching games in 2004, in fact, to help the Cardinals make it to their first World Series in 17 years.

“I can’t say enough about the job he’s done all postseason,” Cardinals reliever Adam Wainwright said. “He’s been a warrior for us.”

They needed a gritty relief effort from rookie closer Wainwright, standing in for injured Jason Isringhausen, to finish off the Mets. New York loaded the bases before Wainwright froze Carlos Beltran on a curveball for the final out.

“When I got him 0-2, I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to make one more good pitch,'” Wainwright said. “One more great pitch and let’s go to the Series.”

Wainwright, a key player acquired in a trade with the Braves for J.D. Drew in 2003, has been projected as a starter next season. He’s 3-for-3 in save chances in the postseason, allowing no runs in 62â3 innings.

Suppan’s story is more an unlikely tale of dominance. Suppan was 13 games below .500 for his career before signing a free-agent deal with the Cardinals in 2004, after being left off the Red Sox’s division-series roster and left on the bench in the ALCS in 2003.

He was saddled with a 5.83 ERA at the All-Star break this year before dialing it in. Suppan’s 2.34 ERA the rest of the way was third-best in the majors.

Suppan saved his best pitching for the toughest spot.

It was 1-1 in the sixth when third baseman Scott Rolen’s throwing error let the Mets load the bases with one out. Suppan struck out Jose Valentin and got Endy Chavez – who’d made a great catch in the top half – on a lazy fly ball to center.

“Soup kept his composure, made pitches and got out of it,” manager Tony La Russa said. “The game could have gotten out of hand.”