NEW YORK -- The New York Mets' first home run in 10 days couldn't have been more timely.

Pinch-hitter Mark Johnson ended New York's eight-game homerless stretch, hitting a tiebreaking shot in the eighth inning that gave the Mets a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

"Eight games? Geez," Johnson said. "I didn't know that. I hope this will be the start of something good."

The Mets scored five runs in the fifth to rally from a 5-1 deficit and take two of three from St. Louis, winning their fifth series out of the last six. The Cardinals lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

With one out in the eighth, Johnson lined an opposite-field shot over the left-field fence against Dave Veres (2-2) for his seventh career pinch homer. It was the Mets' first home run since John Valentin went deep in the seventh inning against Atlanta on April 15 -- a span of 301 at-bats.

"I'm just happy it got over the fence," Johnson said. "There was a sense of relief. It was a big comeback for us. It would have been a shame to let that slip away."

On a 2-0 pitch, Veres figured Johnson would try to pull the ball. Instead, he went with the outside pitch and won the game.

"At 2-0 you're looking for something to drive not going the other way," Veres said. "He hit it pretty good obviously, but I expected him to look for something to yank."

The Mets played short-handed for the second straight night, missing catcher Mike Piazza (strained left hamstring), shortstop Rey Ordonez (strained left rib cage) and outfielder Timo Perez (strained left hamstring).

The injuries limited manager Bobby Valentine's choices in Wednesday's loss when he kept Johnson on the bench in a tie game in the seventh inning to let Al Leiter bat. The move backfired when Leiter allowed a two-run homer to Eduardo Perez in the eighth.

This time, Valentine used Johnson at the right moment.

"We had one bullet to use and we used it," Valentine said. "It won the game for us."

Scott Strickland (2-1) retired five straight batters to get the win and Armando Benitez struck out the side in the ninth for his sixth save.

Mets relievers struck out eight batters over the final 3 2-3 innings -- including five on called third strikes.

"I don't know where all those takes came from," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We're usually pretty aggressive. In the last four innings or so we took a lot of strikes."

St. Louis' Josh Pearce, looking for his first career win, took a 5-1 lead into the fifth but couldn't retire a better in the inning.

Reliever Grant Roberts led off with a single. Roberto Alomar then hit a potential double-play grounder to third base, but Placido Polanco threw wildly to second for an error that put runners on second and third.

Valentin followed with a two-run double to make it 5-3. Mo Vaughn hit an RBI single and, after Edgardo Alfonzo walked, Luther Hackman relieved.

A sacrifice fly by Jeromy Burnitz tied the game and Roger Cedeno added an RBI groundout to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.

"We're capable of scoring runs, we just haven't been doing it" Valentin said. "Hits have been tough to come by. That got us back in the game and changed the momentum a bit."

The Cardinals tied it in the sixth when pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo hit a triple to left-center that hit of the glove of Jay Payton. Fernando Vina followed with a bunt single. Lefty Mark Guthrie came on with runners on first and second and struck out J.D. Drew.

After a visit from pitching coach Charlie Hough, Guthrie walked righty Albert Pujols to load the bases before striking out lefty Jim Edmonds.

"Charlie told me I had two guys to get one out," Guthrie said. "I wasn't going to give Pujols anything to hit. But Edmonds is no walk in the park, either."

Despite the win, it was not a well-played game by the Mets. In one particularly ugly sequence, Vaughn misplayed a grounder to first by Pujols for an error with two outs in the fifth.

After a single by Edmonds, catcher Vance Wilson dropped a high popup by Tino Martinez for a run-scoring error, prompting boos from the few fans who showed up on the cold, damp night.

Mike Matheny hit a two-run homer in the third for the Cardinals. Martinez and Edgar Renteria hit RBI singles in the fourth to knock out Steve Trachsel.

Notes: Johnson's previous pinch homer came June 26, 2000, against Florida's Joe Strong. ... The Cardinals placed LHP Bud Smith on the 15-day DL with a strained left shoulder and recalled Gene Stechschulte from Triple-A Memphis. ... Trachsel allowed four runs and six hits in three-plus innings.