MLB

SANTANA CLUTCH ON NIGHT PHILLIES FALL

Johan Santana gave a demonstration of the Heimlich Maneuver last night that should be posted in every kennel as the proper method to saving a choking dog.

There is no guarantee the Mets still won’t gag this thing away, but for one night the breathing was free and simple. Santana pitched a gem, the offense clicked and the bullpen got three outs. What more can you ask?

“This is what you’re here for, trying to win the big game and the pennant race,” Santana said after the Mets beat the Cubs 6-2 at Shea Stadium and snapped a three-game losing streak. The victory came as news spread that general manager Omar Minaya is on the verge of receiving a four-year contract extension.

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It wasn’t a perfect night for the Mets – Milwaukee rallied to defeat Pittsburgh and remain a game behind the Mets in the wild-card race – at least interim manager Jerry Manuel’s crew moved within 1½ games of the NL East lead with Philadelphia’s loss to Atlanta.

“We had to win this game tonight,” Manuel said. “We had our best pitcher going and he’s our ace. We needed to have this game tonight, and he stepped up.”

Santana’s defining performance of the season included a career-high 125 pitches over eight innings. The left-hander (15-7) surrendered two earned runs on seven hits, with 10 strikeouts and two walks. Santana, 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA over his past 15 starts, left to a standing ovation after escaping the eighth, leaving two runners on base.

The Mets seized control with four runs in the sixth and never let go. Jose Reyes delivered the big hit, a bases-loaded triple that made him just the second player in franchise history to collect 200 hits in a season. Lance Johnson set the Mets record with 227 hits in 1996.

“It’s a different feeling tonight than it was [Monday],” Reyes said. “It’s going to be exciting to play the next couple of games.”

Carlos Delgado doubled leading off the sixth and scored the inning’s first run, as pitcher Chad Gaudin made a wild flip to first base attempting to get Ramon Castro. The Mets then loaded the bases with consecutive singles by Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy. Reyes followed with a shot inside the first-base bag against Kevin Hart that cleared the bases.

David Wright’s two-run single in the fifth made it 2-2 and brought a morbid Shea crowd to life. The catalyst to the inning was Santana’s broken-bat dribbler toward second. The ball twice hit Santana’s bat fragment and changed direction, allowing Santana to reach first.

“It should count for two hits,” Santana said. “I was just lucky, and it worked out pretty good for us.”

Kosuke Fukudome’s RBI double in the second got the Cubs their first run. An inning later Ronny Cedeno drilled a one-out double and scored on Reed Johnson’s single.

The 125 pitches thrown by Santana were the most by a Mets pitcher in two years.

“I didn’t know I had that many pitches,” he said. “With the intensity of the game and everything we went through, I was just out there trying to help.”

mpuma@nypost.com