New York — Two outs from a scintillating win, Jeurys Familia and the New York Mets instead got tagged with one stunner of a loss.

Yadier Molina and pinch-hitter Kolten Wong each stroked an RBI double in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped Familia's string of 52 straight saves in rallying past the Mets 5-4 on Wednesday night.

"This is a really tough one to take," manager Terry Collins said.

Yoenis Cespedes hit a go-ahead homer off Adam Wainwright to cap a three-run comeback in the seventh that gave New York a 4-3 lead. But then Familia, who hadn't blown a regular-season save opportunity since July 30 last year, finally faltered.

Jedd Gyorko drew a four-pitch walk with one out in the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Randal Grichuk. Molina hit the next pitch to deep center field, and Grichuk scored to tie it.

Molina was thrown out at third by Familia (2-2) on pinch-hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker's comebacker, but Hazelbaker stole second and scored when Wong lined a double just inside the left-field line.

"They made good contact on my sinker, and I walked a guy and Molina came and jumped on the first pitch and that's it," said Familia, charged with three blown saves in last year's World Series loss to Kansas City.

His franchise-record streak was the third-longest in major league history behind Tom Gordon (54) and Eric Gagne (84).

"Nobody's perfect," Mets starter Logan Verrett said.

Verrett pitched seven efficient innings and slumping Neil Walker went 3 for 3 with a base on balls for the third-place Mets, who have alternated wins and losses in their last 13 games.

They fell to 48-1 when leading after eight innings this season and dropped 5 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Washington.

Including a split of Tuesday's doubleheader, St. Louis took two of three from New York in a matchup of NL wild-card contenders.

"Great comeback win," Molina said. "We're facing one of the best closers in the game, to take the game away from him was huge."

Jonathan Broxton (3-2) tossed a scoreless eighth and Seung Hwan Oh got three quick outs for his sixth save.

Matt Holliday hit a two-run double off Verrett in the third, and Matt Adams followed with an RBI double that made it 3-1. The inning began with a nine-pitch walk to Wainwright, who fouled off three full-count fastballs.

"It all started by walking Wainwright," Verrett said. "Can't allow that to happen."

Wainwright, who entered 3-0 in July with a major league-low 0.93 ERA, nursed that two-run lead until the seventh — repeatedly pitching out of trouble.

He nearly did so again after striking out Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera with runners at the corners. But then Travis d'Arnaud scored on a wild pitch and Cespedes, who fouled off three full-count offerings, socked a two-run homer off the facing of the second deck in left-center.

"Cespedes had one of the most amazing at-bats I've ever seen," Wong said.

The go-ahead homer came on the 117th and final pitch from the 34-year-old Wainwright, who had not allowed a long ball in just more than 66 innings since Washington's Ryan Zimmerman connected on May 28. That was the longest streak in the majors this season.

"It was almost heartbreaking. For a moment it was. I was at my lowest of lows this season," Wainwright said. "It was almost really bad, but the team saved me tonight."

Power outage

Cardinals hitters were kept in the ballpark after the club homered in 17 consecutive games — its longest streak since a team-record run of 19 games in 2006.

Trainer's room

Mets 3B Jose Reyes received an injection and treatment for the ribcage strain on his left side. He is likely to be sidelined until at least Friday, Collins said, and Wilmer Flores will continue to fill in.

Up next

RHP Jacob deGrom (6-5, 2.73 ERA) looks to rebound from his worst start of the season Thursday afternoon against Colorado LHP Tyler Anderson (3-3, 3.56) in the opener of a four-game series. The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year is 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in three career starts against the Rockies, who have a tough turnaround after winning Wednesday night in Baltimore.