The Cardinals blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning, falling to the Mets, 8-6, and reducing the Brewers' magic number to clinch the NL Central to 2 with six games to play.

After a two-hour rain delay to start the game, the Cardinals looked to be in complete control, beginning with a Allen Craig home run in the first inning. The Cardinals added two more, including an Albert Pujols home run, in the fifth off former Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano and led, 6-2 heading into the ninth.

Cardinals reliever Jason Motte opened the inning with a leadoff walk to Willie Harris, who advanced to second when Rafael Furcal mishandled Nick Evans grounder. After getting Josh Thole to fly out to center, Motte loaded the bases by walking Jason Pridie and handed the Mets a free run with a walk to Justin Turner.

St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa turned to right-hander Mark Rzepczynski, who couldn't stop the bleeding. He faced just one batter, Jose Reves, who singled to right and made it a 6-4 game.

Fernando Salas followed and quickly gave up a two-run double to Ruben Tejada, trying the game. Salas loaded the bases by intentionally walking Angel Pagan to face the slumping David Wright, who went down swinging for the second out in the inning.

That brought up Willie Harris for the second time in the ninth. He worked the count to 2-2 before ripping a chage-up to right and giving the Mets the lead.

Nick Evans ended the inning with a fly out to center but Bobby Parnell worked a perfect ninth to complete the Mets' comeback.

The loss drops the Cardinals to two full games behind the idle Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card race and five games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. All three teams have six games remaining in the season.

The Cardinals face the Cubs Friday night in St. Louis with Chris Carpenter on the mound. The Brewers host the Marlins at Miller Park. Any combination of Brewers victories and Cardinals losses that adds up to two would give Milwaukee its first division title in 29 years.