Brendan Ryan smacked his first career home run, a solo shot in the 11 th inning, to help lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets Tuesday night at Shea Stadium.

The Cardinals led 3-2 as the Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 9 th , hoping to take advantage of a solid pitching performance by starter Todd Wellemeyer, who went 6 innings, giving up 1 earned run, while striking out 5 batters. But ace reliever Jason Isringhausen couldn’t nail down the win, giving up the tying run in the 9 th .

Ryan’s homer was one of two runs scored by St. Louis in the 11 th , giving them a two run lead.

The Mets brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 11 th , but Randy Flores came in to shut down New York and earn his 1 st save of the season, allowing Brad Thompson (6-3) to pick up the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Scott Schoeneweis (0-2) took the loss.

The Cardinals (34-40) and the Mets (42-33) go at it in round three of their four game series Wednesday night at Shea Stadium.