Adam Wainwright insists he will never again put his teammates hearts in their mouths like he did last night.

However, if he does and removes them the way he did, the Cardinals will forgive him.

Brought into protect the two-run lead provided by Yadier Molina’s two-run homer in the ninth, Wainwright gave up singles to Jose Valentin and Endy Chavez to start the ninth and re-energize a sold-out Shea Stadium.

Next up was pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd and he looked at a 2-2 pitch for the first out. Jose Reyes followed with a liner to Jim Edmonds in center field for the second out. Had Reyes’ ball been to the left or right of Edmonds, the game would have been tied.

One out away from sending the Cardinals to the World Series, the rookie right-hander walked Paul Lo Duca to load the bases for Carlos Beltran.

“I was fortunate to get out of that situation,” said the 25-year-old Wainwright, who locked up Beltran with an 0-2 breaking ball that cemented the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory and ended the Mets’ season. “I put myself in a tough situation and I put my team in a tough situation.”

Having replaced Jason Isringhausen when the Cardinals closer went down in September with season-ending hip problem, Wainwright morphed into the high-anxiety Isringhausen at the worst possible time.

“Izzy has been talking to him,” Tony La Russa said of Wainwright, who spent his first full season in the big leagues this year. “That was an Izzy save. Our young catcher (Molina) went out to settle him down.”

Dripping in champagne, Wainwright looked to the Tigers and the World Series that starts tomorrow night in Detroit, where the AL champions will be heavily favored.

“We have one more stop to make,” Wainwright said.