MLB

Mets snap six-game skid as Niese shines, bats come to life

ST. LOUIS — There is finally joy in Crudville.

Just when it appeared the Mets would never win another game, their lineup rose to the challenge for a day against a premier pitcher.

And so, the Mets rolled to a 5-2 victory over Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium Thursday, snapping a six-game losing streak to avoid getting swept four games in the series.

“It was a step in the right direction,” Jon Niese said after his best performance of the season.

The offensive production was the story. Daniel Murphy led the 11-hit attack with a 4-for-4 performance, allowing the Mets to overlook Ike Davis’ 0-for-5 with four strikeouts that extended his hitless streak to 22 at-bats.

With ace Matt Harvey set to pitch today against the Cubs, the Mets (15-23) will arrive at Wrigley Field with at least a shred of momentum.

“This is exactly what we said at the beginning of the year, with Jon and Matt going behind each other that you can start a streak,” manager Terry Collins said. “Certainly we need a game out of Matt and get that streak going.”

Niese (3-4) pitched 7 ¹/₃ innings in which he allowed two earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. It was the lefty’s first victory since defeating the Twins on April 12. Niese credited an extended bullpen session with pitching coach Dan Warthen on Monday helping him regain the proper arm slot. Niese hit 93 mph on the radar gun yesterday for his best velocity of the season, according to Collins.

For a change, the Mets provided their starting pitcher a cushion. David Wright’s RBI double against Wainwright in the sixth and Lucas Duda’s sacrifice fly later in the inning gave the Mets a 4-1 lead — marking just the second time in 10 games the team scored more than three runs. The Mets had gone 10 games without scoring as many as five runs.

Murphy was on base five times, including his walk in the seventh inning.

“We were just able to string together a lot of quality at-bats,” Murphy said.

Wainwright (5-3) lasted six innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. The right-hander fell to 1-4 lifetime against the Mets in seven appearances.

The Mets got frisky in the third, with three straight hits against Wainwright that gave them a 2-1 lead. Jordany Valdespin bunted for a single before Murphy tied the game with an RBI double. Wright’s run-scoring single put the Mets ahead.

“That was a good [bunt] by Valdy and he scores on the double by Murph, but that’s what he can do when he’s playing well, he can spark some things,” Collins said. “When we can start getting [Murphy] on ahead of David, we’re going to start scoring some runs.”

Pete Kozma’s RBI double in the second — Rick Ankiel hesitated on the ball hit to right-center and watched it fall in front of him — gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead after Yadier Molina had opened the inning with a single. But Niese then got on a roll, carrying the Mets into the eighth before Carlos Beltran delivered an RBI single against Brandon Lyon.

“There were a lot of things today we needed to have, and we did it,” Collins said. “It was a great outing by Jon, and he got us deep in the game. Murph had a good game and we beat Wainwright, which is not easy to do, especially the way he’s been pitching. Those were all positives and hopefully it gets us off, gets us going.”

mpuma@nypost.com