Blame Aaron Heilman if you’d like, but the Mets loaded the bases with one out in the sixth – and didn’t score. They stranded 11 men in Game 7. They batted a measly .208 (11-for-53) with runners in scoring position in the NLCS.

Part of the epitaph on their 2006 gravestone will be an inability to come through with a clutch hit, especially during the pivotal sixth inning of their 3-1 loss to St. Louis in Game 7. After left fielder Endy Chavez made a spectacular catch robbing Scott Rolen of a two-run homer, the Mets put runners at the corners with one out. And then . . . nothing.

“I told the team it’s gonna change our luck, and we’re going to go for runs now and get stronger,” Chavez said. “That’s the positive I had in my mind. It didn’t work. “Even to the end, I had faith in my teammates. We didn’t do it.”

With one out in the sixth, Carlos Delgado worked a walk off Jeff Suppan, and David Wright followed with a slow grounder to third. It seemed like a sure out off the bat . . . maybe even a double play.

Instead, Wright’s beleaguered counterpart, Rolen, chucked it into the seats to put runners at the corners, and Shawn Green was walked to plug the bases. But Jose Valentin whiffed on a breaking ball, and Chavez hit the first pitch harmlessly into center fielder Jim Edmonds’ glove. Momentum was snuffed, and the Mets never got it back.

“You talk about Endy Chavez making a Superman catch to rob a two-run home run, and then you load the bases with one out . . . ” Wright said. “Suppan made great pitches.

“We got lucky a couple times, but we could’ve taken an opportunity of their mistakes. That could be a four- or five-run swing right there.”

Added Carlos Beltran: “You’ve got to take that momentum to go hit and at least put one or two runs up. But we couldn’t do it. We didn’t do it. We just couldn’t score against Suppan.”

Even down two runs in the ninth, after back-to-back leadoff singles by Valentin and Chavez and a two-out walk by Paul Lo Duca, the Mets couldn’t even plate one run. Beltran whiffed looking to end the season.

“Obviously, they had a nice game plan against some of our hitters,” manager Willie Randolph said. “Some of our big hitters just had a tough time for a while there.

“But I don’t really look at what which guys didn’t do what. It’s a team situation. You win championships by a collective effort by everyone.”

Additional reporting byBrian Costello.