Mike Piazza has his chances against Andy Benes and the Cards, but can't come through for the Mets. (AP)

"It wasn't a slide," laughed Cards first baseman Will Clark. "It was more like a belly flop when you're out of gas."

Consider the Cardinals refueled. For the first time in the series, they got a lead. For the first time, they hit in the clutch. And for the first time, they outpitched the Mets.

While the entire city of New York is already talking about the Subway World Series as if it's a mere formality, the Cardinals -- who drilled 14 hits -- made it clear they aren't going to just disappear.

Benes, who has been labeled soft throughout a career that hasn't quite measured up to expectations, has spent the past few weeks needing to drain his knee just so he can pitch every fifth day.

He got his first reward on Saturday afternoon, pitching the Cardinals to their biggest victory of the season.

"It was gutty," said Cards center fielder Jim Edmonds. "He wanted to prove he could pitch in the playoffs."

Though his slide was the symbolic moment of the day for the Cardinals, his pitching was what mattered.

He limited the red-hot Mets to six hits over eight innings, struck out five, and most importantly, gave a Cardinals' bullpen still taxed from Game 2 a much-needed sabbatical.

"The single biggest thing we needed was for Andy to pitch the way he did," said Cards manager Tony La Russa. "With the way his knee was swelling and the discomfort, I don't know that there are a lot of pitchers who wouldn't have shut it down. But to do what he did today, this is terrific. People forget that he's a very good pitcher and a great competitor."

It's not that they forget it. It's just that nobody associates Benes with words like "competitor".

Certainly not recently fired Arizona Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter, who kept Benes out of last year's Division Series against the Mets. Benes was stuck in the bullpen as the Mets won the series. He watched them celebrate, knowing that he could have done something to stop it if only given the chance.

Look over Benes' postseason resume and you can understand why Showalter would pass over him. In '95 with Seattle, he was hit hard by the Yankees in the Division Series and shelled by the Indians in the ALCS. In '96, he didn't do much better for the Cardinals in their NLCS loss to the Braves.

He's had four years to think about his six career playoff starts and why they didn't work out as well as he hoped. Clearly, he learned something with all that time to ponder.

"I've learned an awful lot," said Benes following the biggest victory of his career and first in the playoffs. "I've learned that you have to go out and locate your pitches and change speeds."

And he's learned to do it in immense pain.

"I went for about a month trying everything from a brace to taping it," said Benes. "I'm used to it now. I have this brace that keeps my knee in line so I can actually go out and pitch. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

But he was front and center at Shea on Saturday. After the Cardinals had staked him to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Mets led off with back-to-back singles, setting the stage for superstar Mike Piazza. There was a time Benes might have buckled under such an intense situation. But this time, he took a deep breath and induced Piazza into a 5-4-3 double play that did score a run, but also quieted the crowd and the Mets.

The Cardinals kept coming after that, scoring two runs in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Benes kept the Mets at bay. And he helped alter a reputation -- however misguided -- that wouldn't stop following him around.

"He's pitched a lot of clutch games for us," said La Russa. "But to do what he did today was just a terrific mark. Hell, this gives us a chance in the series. I think, personally for him, he can stand up and be proud. He made a heck of a statement."

One that might have saved the Cardinals' season.

"I think the more negatives you hear about your ability," said Benes, "and the more people question your ability, you can use that as positive energy and put that into your performance."

On Saturday, Benes put it into the most crucial performance he's ever had.