The St. Louis Cardinals have reached Major League Baseball's World Series with a dramatic 3-1 victory over the Mets in New York.

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina proved to be the hero at the plate in the ninth inning Thursday, blasting a two-run home run to break open a tie game and win the decisive seventh game of the National League Championship Series.

The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, but relief pitcher Adam Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltran to seal the win.

St. Louis returns to the World Series for the second time in three years and hopes to have a better outcome. In 2005, the Boston Red Sox swept the Cardinals in four straight games.

The Detroit Tigers, champions of the American League, host Game-One of the World Series on Saturday. Detroit is appearing in the so-called Fall Classic for the first time in 22 years.

Earlier Thursday night, as a light mist fell in Shea Stadium, Mets third baseman David Wright drove in a run in the first inning. Ronnie Belliard hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a St. Louis run in the second inning. From there, New York starting pitcher Oliver Perez kept the Cardinals bats mostly quiet through six innings while St. Louis pitcher Jeff Suppan lasted seven innings.