Braun, Brewers bash Cards for Game 1 victory

MILWAUKEE -- Even before the first pitch, the Milwaukee Brewers took a swing at the St. Louis Cardinals.Come Sunday, the Brewers swapped their barbs for bats -- and just kept bashing.Needing a comeback in the NL championship series opener, Milwaukee turned to its power duo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, then got a clutch hit from Yuniesky Betancourt to beat the Cardinals 9-6.The Brewers celebrated wildly as the big hits came during a rapid-fire rally. "It's the playoffs, bro," Fielder said. "You've got to let it all out."Braun launched a two-run, 463-foot homer in the first inning and added a two-run double during a six-run burst in the fifth. Fielder hit a two-run homer and the typically light-hitting Betancourt added a two-run homer to cap it.The midgame turnaround came so fast that the crowd wasn't done cheering Braun's big hit when Fielder went deep."I don't even know if I heard the ball come off Prince's bat," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "I knew it was a good swing and came off nice, but when you can't hear the ball, the sound of it, because of all the people yelling. I wasn't sure what was going to happen there until I saw the ball flight."At least for one game, the bitter NL Central rivals avoided any on-field confrontations in their first postseason matchup since the 1982 World Series.That's despite an already tense atmosphere that gained some steam when Brewers starter Zack Greinke let it slip on Saturday that some of his teammates don't like the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter -- a comment that drew a stern rebuke from Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.Greinke hinted that he heard a few comments from the Cardinals' dugout Sunday, but he said it was nothing out of the ordinary."They're yelling from the dugout some, but most teams do that," Greinke said. "Everyone always makes fun of me grunting when I throw a fastball. It's kind of funny sometimes, but no big deal."The atmosphere was tense even before the first pitch, as La Russa was showered with boos during pregame introductions. He calmly tipped his cap to the crowd.La Russa said afterward that he hoped the tension wouldn't overshadow the competition -- although he said he had a sense that some fans and media members would be disappointed if there aren't any repeats of the on-field confrontations the teams have had in the recent past."I don't want our players and their players to be egged on, and I don't think they will," La Russa said. "We're going to play as hard and good against each other as we can."Greinke struggled at times, but reliever Takashi Saito got Cardinals star Albert Pujols to ground into a key double play in the seventh. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a hitless eighth and closer John Axford threw a hitless ninth for a save. Game 2 is at Miller Park on Monday night. Shaun Marcum starts for the Brewers against Edwin Jackson."We'll come back out," Cardinals star Lance Berkman said. "The same thing happened to us in the first game against Philly. We were able to regroup."David Freese hit a three-run homer off Greinke in the fourth, and the Cardinals led 5-2 in the fifth.But Milwaukee made it tough on Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, who left after giving up Fielder's homer. Garcia, who hit Fielder with a pitch earlier in the game, gave up six runs and six hits in four-plus innings with three walks. He took the loss.Greinke earned the win despite his uneven outing, giving up six runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. He left the game to a standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single to Rafael Furcal in the seventh.The Cardinals took a three-run lead into the fifth before Garcia allowed a leadoff single to Corey Hart and a double to Jerry Hairston Jr. Braun hit a two-run, ground-rule double to right and with the crowd still saluting him, Fielder hit the first pitch from Garcia deep to right for a two-run homer, giving the Brewers the lead.Fielder then showed off his repertoire of celebrations, giving the team's "Beast Mode" gesture upon his arrival at home plate and exchanging mock knockout blows with Braun as he trotted back to the dugout.That was it for Garcia, who left with no outs in the fifth and his team down 6-5. It that wasn't the end of trouble for the Cardinals, though.Reliever Octavio Dotel fielded Rickie Weeks' grounder and threw the ball away, allowing Weeks to go to second on the error.Betancourt -- who batted .252 in the regular season with 13 homers -- then sent a 2-1 pitch from Dotel deep to left, where it flew into the Brewers' bullpen and was fielded on the fly by Milwaukee bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel. Hanel pumped his fist, Betancourt circled the bases and the crowd continued its inning-long eruption.Betancourt has taken plenty of criticism this season, but might be among the rare group of athletes who say they don't pay attention to the critics and actually mean it. Through an interpreter, Betancourt said he manages to avoid criticism because he doesn't speak much English."I don't really pay attention to what the critics say," Betancourt said.With the score 8-5, Pujols came to the plate with runners on first and third and no outs in the seventh. Pujols broke his bat on a double-play grounder -- a run scored, but the Brewers had limited the damage.Betancourt doubled in the seventh and scored on a single by Jonathan Lucroy.Axford sported a heavily bandaged right forearm in the clubhouse after being hit by Jon Jay's liner on the final play of Sunday's 9-6 victory. X-rays taken afterward were negative."Everything is good," he said.The Brewers and Cardinals split an 18-game series evenly this season, a sign of what has been one of baseball's most intense rivalries in recent years. The Cardinals' success against the Brewers in the final month of the season was one of the main reasons they climbed back into playoff contention.St. Louis won six of its last seven games against Milwaukee, including a three-game sweep at Miller Park.The animosity between the two teams spilled into this week, when Greinke told reporters Saturday that some of his teammates don't like Carpenter because of his "phony attitude."La Russa said he got an umpire's warning after Garcia hit Fielder with a pitch in the first inning, right after Braun's homer. But the Brewers said they didn't think the pitch was intentional, and La Russa said the team's recent history probably affects the umpires' attitudes."I certainly can't fault the umpire," La Russa said. "But, you know, you can't go out and argue those things, or you get thrown out. I didn't say anything. What I would have said is, if you watched the way Jaime pitched that whole inning, every fastball he threw was in that same area, out away from the right hander or in on Fielder. They just looked bad, but he was just trying to get the ball somewhere near the glove."Game notes Jackson struggled in his first outing with the Cardinals against the Brewers, giving up 10 runs (eight earned) in seven innings at Milwaukee Aug. 3. But he was better in two subsequent starts against the Brewers, allowing four runs (three earned) in 13 innings. ... Marcum is coming off a rough outing in the Brewers' Game 3 NL division series loss at Arizona, giving up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Cruz's homer gives Rangers Game 1 of ALCS

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A few minutes past midnight, the Texas Rangers had one more victory over Justin Verlander -- and the Detroit Tigers lost yet another wet playoff opener started by their ace."If anywhere in the country has a drought, just bring me in and I'll fix that," Verlander said after the Rangers beat him 3-2 Saturday night in Game 1 of the AL championship series opener.Before the game was interrupted twice by rain for a total of 1 hour, 50 minutes in the top of the fifth inning, Nelson Cruz broke a postseason slump with a home run and the defending AL champions scored all of their runs off Verlander. His final pitch came long before the last out was made at 12:03 a.m. CDT. "He's throwing 100 miles an hour. You're just up there battling against a guy like that," David Murphy said. "We didn't have a lot of hits against him, but our at-bats were awesome. We were having five-, six-, seven-pitch at bats. We got hits when we needed to, and the bullpen made it stand up."Murphy had an RBI triple and scored on Ian Kinsler's single in the second, and Cruz had a leadoff homer in the fourth for a 3-0 lead.Texas faced Verlander only once during the regular season, a 2-0 Rangers' win on April 11 when Verlander lost despite pitching a six-hitter.The likely AL Cy Young Award winner was 24-5 during the regular and had been 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three previous career starts at hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark, allowing three runs in 21 innings. Texas matched that run total in four innings when it counted most."I just didn't have it. My location wasn't very good at all," Verlander said."He didn't really have his curveball going for strikes," manager Jim Leyland said. "He had a tough time with it. I think probably trying to overthrow it a little bit."In between the delays, Austin Jackson doubled in a run and scored on a wild pitch by Rangers starter C.J. Wilson. Alexi Ogando, who got all three of the Rangers' regular-season wins over Detroit this year, pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Neftali Feliz, clocked at up to 101 mph, worked the ninth for his fourth save this postseason.Game 2 is Sunday night. Derek Holland starts for Texas against Max Scherzer, who pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief for the Tigers in their AL division series clincher Thursday night against the New York Yankees.Verlander threw one inning and 25 pitches in the division series opener at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 30 when that game was suspended by rain. Under a rules change adopted two years ago, postseason games are suspended when called instead of being cut short or wiped out.Verlander came back and started Game 3, winning as he threw 120 pitches with 11 strikeouts over eight innings.He threw 82 pitches in four innings against the Rangers before the first delay. He struck out five, including Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre in the first without allowing a run after his only two walks.Leyland planned for Verlander to stay in after the first delay. That changed during the second delay, which lasted 1:09."That was a no brainer," Leyland said. "I think that this was a little bit of a weird night, obviously."Cruz was in an 0-for-10 postseason slump before his drive to left for his Rangers-record seventh postseason homer, one more than two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez."Definitely important to get it going," Cruz said. "As soon as I hit the homer, I thought it should be good enough, the way C.J. was throwing."Mike Napoli had a leadoff single in the second for the Rangers, in their second consecutive ALCS after never winning a postseason series before last year. He scored when Murphy got the head of his bat on a low pitch and pulled it into the right-center gap, where the ball one-hopped the wall.But before the fifth inning, Rangers Ballpark groundskeeper Dennis Klein went out and spoke with plate umpire Tim Welke about the weather.After Ramon Santiago led off the fifth with a double and while Brandon Inge was batting with a 1-0 count against Wilson, play was stopped for 41 minutes. When the game resumed, the teams got only 13 minutes in before the tarp came out again.The rain delays were the first at Rangers Ballpark since May 24. This season was played during one of the hottest and driest summers ever in North Texas, including 27 games when the temperature was 100 degrees or more at first pitch.Wilson, who had thrown 72 pitches before the first delay, made 24 more during the short resumption.On the first pitch after play resumed, Inge grounded out. Jackson followed with a double that rolled into a puddle by the wall in right-center field and scored Santiago. Jackson eventually scored on a wild pitch while Wilson loaded the bases on three walks before heavy rain started falling again.Michael Gonzalez replaced Wilson after the second delay and needed only two pitches to induce an inning-ending groundout by Alex Avila.Ogando, a reliever-turned-starter back in the bullpen in the playoffs, struck out three over the sixth and seventh innings."What a weapon to have," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.Santiago led off the ninth with a bunt single before Feliz struck out the next three batters.Rick Porcello, Detroit's scheduled Game 4 starter, had two scoreless innings after replacing Verlander. Leyland said the Tigers could alter their planned rotation.Wilson escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first when Magglio Ordonez hit a chopper over third base. Adrian Beltre stepped on the bag and threw across the diamond for an inning-ending double play."C.J. made a great pitch on Magglio, cut a fastball in," Leyland said. "That was obviously a huge inning. The ninth inning we always talk about, but tonight's game might have been the first."Game notes This was the ninth one-run game already in this postseason, the most since there were 11 two years ago, according to STATS LLC. ... Jackson, who was born and still lives in nearby Denton, had a tough start. After striking out on three pitches opening the game, he struggled with a wind-blown flyball in the bottom of the first. He went back, came in a few steps and the ball hit off the heel of Jackson's glove as Elvis Andrus reached second on the error.

Morgan lifts Brewers past D-backs, into NLCS

MILWAUKEE -- Nyjer Morgan denounced his "haters." He suggested he might celebrate by taking a nice, relaxing bath. Then he erupted with a cackle.All while wearing a helmet in his postgame news conference. After delivering an RBI single in the 10th inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Friday in Game 5 and send the Milwaukee Brewers to the NL championship series, Morgan was taking it all in and letting his oversized, oddball personality out."It's a lot, man," Morgan said. "Basically just everything that I've had to overcome, just the stuff that people go out there and perceive about me, everything. Just all my haters. I just wanted to show them that I can play this game, even though I have a fun, bubbly personality. I still come to win, and I'm a winner."The Brewers would expect nothing less from their rabble-rousing, run-producing force who often refers to himself by the name of his self-created alter ego, "Tony Plush." Morgan might have worn out his welcome with other teams, but he's winning over the Brewers and their fans."He's a joy to have, I'll tell you," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "I don't care about all the little issues we have. This guy, I love him on this team. I like him as a really nice young man. He came through big, again, when we needed him."Next, the Brewers face NL Central nemesis St. Louis after the wild-card Cardinals beat Philadelphia 1-0 in Game 5 of their series Friday night. Milwaukee will open at home against St. Louis on Sunday. With the game tied at 2 in the 10th and Carlos Gomez on second base with one out, Morgan hit a grounder up the middle and Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz tried in vain to stop it with his leg. The ball went into center field and Gomez sailed across home plate as a wild throw home went awry.Gomez was surprised when one of the first people to greet him on the field at raucous Miller Park was Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio. "You have to be smart," Gomez said. "You have to get to the boss first, and then your teammates."Morgan was mobbed by the Brewers near the mound after the latest dramatic finish for baseball's best home team gave Milwaukee its first victory in a postseason series since it won the AL pennant in 1982."We've heard all about 1982, so it's nice to start our own legacy," slugger Ryan Braun said.Next, the Brewers move on to face the St. Louis Cardinals. The NLCS begins Sunday, with the Brewers opening at home.Arizona did all it could to extend its surprising season. Center fielder Chris Young made a jaw-dropping catch in the sixth and the Diamondbacks had one last comeback left in the ninth."I'm not ready to go home yet," Young said. "I'm not hanging my head because I think we could have done anything different. I'm hanging my head just because I want to keep playing and I don't want the season to be over yet."Willie Bloomquist drove in the tying run with a safety squeeze, but Arizona was unable to forge ahead against closer John Axford."This was a great baseball game today. I'm not happy to be on this end of it. Yet I'm proud of my team and they played true to the way they played all year," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said."And the Brewers, they cashed in on their opportunities, what can we say? We had tons of opportunities."Morgan was a critical addition for the Brewers this year and had several clutch hits, winning fans along the way."Nyjer got the biggest hit of his life, one of the biggest hits in Brewers history," Braun said. "We're all proud, man. It's pretty cool."But Morgan wasn't having a particularly productive series until his big moment in the deciding game -- although he bristled at the suggestion that he was struggling."What struggles?" Morgan said. "It's baseball, man."Afterward, the Brewers spent more than an hour celebrating with thousands of Miller Park fans who stuck around. Attanasio ran out onto the field immediately after Morgan's game-winning hit and grabbed Gomez."I've never done that," the owner said. "I was so excited. I could not contain myself."Then, the principal owner who bought the team from the Selig family in September 2004, continued to party by high-fiving fans while standing on top of the first-base dugout."It's emotional, man," Prince Fielder said. "You just feel the work and everything. Everything is paying off."The party continued for even the youngest Brewers.The sons of Fielder, Yovani Gallardo and Corey Hart all pumped up the crowd, waving their arms for more noise before doing the "Beast Mode" celebration that the Brewers have rallied around.The scene was similar exactly two weeks earlier when Milwaukee captured its first division title since winning the AL East in 1982.That was also the last time Milwaukee won a round in the postseason, when it captured the American League pennant before losing in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.With a 2-1 lead and their tough 1-2 bullpen combination of Francisco Rodriguez and Axford lined up for the eighth and ninth Friday, the Brewers appeared to have their ticket punched to the NLCS.But the Diamondbacks had the most comeback victories in the majors this season (48) and weren't about to go away easily.They nearly got the best of Rodriguez in the eighth. He loaded the bases with two outs for Ryan Roberts, one of two Diamondbacks players to hit a grand slam in the series. But Rodriguez got Roberts to ground into a forceout at second base, ending the threat.Axford pitched the ninth, allowing a leadoff double to Gerardo Parra. The reliever nearly hit Sean Burroughs with a pitch, then Burroughs blooped a single to put runners on first and third.Bloomquist pushed a bunt to the right side and Fielder nearly collided with Axford while fielding the ball. Fielder stumbled and was unable to get off a throw to the plate as the tying run scored.Justin Upton grounded into a forceout at second and Henry Blanco hit a grounder to shortstop. Yuniesky Betancourt fielded the ball and barely beat Upton to second base to end the inning -- although Betancourt paid for it, getting spiked in the leg.Axford ended the regular season with 43 straight saves, and saved Game 1 of the series. He had not blown a save chance since April 18 at Philadelphia.Gallardo gave up one run in six innings. The right-hander threw 112 pitches, allowing six hits while walking two and striking out five.Axford got the win despite a rough outing. Putz took the loss."We've had great comebacks all year. Unfortunately tonight, we weren't able to finish it off," Gibson said.After finally edging Arizona, the Brewers sprayed bubbly in the clubhouse and waited to find out who their next opponent would be. The Cardinals' win meant the first game of the NL championship series will be Sunday at Miller Park."I think we've done all our celebrating," Roenicke said. "I know I have. So, yeah, I'll sit back and watch what's going on with those games to see if we're staying here or we're going on the road tomorrow."Game notes Despite 78-degree temperatures and sunny conditions at game time, the retractable roof to Miller Park was closed. Both managers said before the game that they didn't care whether the roof was open or closed, although Roenicke said he didn't mind having similar conditions to the previous games in the series. ... Upton's home run was his second in the series. ... Attendance was 44,028, a sellout.

Long ball lifts D-backs past Brewers, to Game 5

PHOENIX -- Counted out by most everyone else, the Arizona Diamondbacks are in position to complete another comeback. And this one could be the greatest of the bunch.Ryan Roberts hit a grand slam, Chris Young had the first two-homer game in Arizona's postseason history and Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-6 Wednesday night to force Game 5 in the NL division series. "We're not going to give up, even when we're down 2-0," said Young, who drove in three runs. "In the clubhouse, we still believed we could do it. At the time our goal was to get back to Milwaukee. We've reached that, so it's a toss-up now. We're going to be ready to go."A day after rolling over the Brewers 8-1, the Diamondbacks struck quickly and often in Game 4, scoring five runs in the first inning off Randy Wolf. The Diamondbacks became the second team -- with the 1977 Dodgers -- to hit grand slams in consecutive playoff games.Arizona evened the series at 2-all and sent it back to Milwaukee for the decisive game Friday. It will be a rematch of Game 1 between 21-game winner Ian Kennedy of the Diamondbacks and fellow right-hander Yovani Gallardo.Written off by many after being outscored 13-5 in the first two games, baseball's best rally team -- 48 comeback wins during the regular season -- has put itself in position to become just the eighth team overall to win a best-of-five series after trailing 0-2."We had confidence all year, we had confidence when we were down 0-2," Roberts said. "Anything can happen, that's why you play this set of five."Aaron Hill hit a solo shot for Arizona's first four-homer game in the postseason. Pinch hitter Collin Cowgill added a two-run single and the bullpen held on after a less-than-crisp outing by starter Joe Saunders, preventing Milwaukee from winning a postseason series for the first time since reaching the 1982 World Series.Of the four opening-round playoff series, three are going to Game 5. Detroit visits the New York Yankees on Thursday night and St. Louis is at Philadelphia on Friday night. The only other time a trio of division matchups went the distance was 2001, the year Arizona won the World Series. "This team is resilient," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "We're going to play hard and I expect this team to have a real good game on Friday."The NL West champion Diamondbacks punctuated their worst-to-first finish with grand slams in their final two home games of the regular season, then kept slamming 'em at Chase Field in the playoffs.Paul Goldschmidt was the star in Game 3, becoming the third rookie ever to hit a grand slam in the playoffs. He had the crowd buzzing when he strode to the plate against Wolf with the bases loaded in the first inning. He couldn't come, through; Wolf struck him out looking.Roberts sure did, though, lining his second grand slam in four home games over the wall in left. The shot had the crowd roaring and got his teammates out of the dugout doing "The Snake," a Miguel Montero-created move that involves cupping the right hand and making a striking motion -- like, well, a snake head.Roberts' drive made Arizona the first team in major league history to hit grand slams in four straight home games (regular and postseason), according to STATS LLC and the SABR home run log."In that situation, I just wanted to get on base, not try do anything too much," Roberts said. "Just see a pitch in that I could drive and put a pretty good swing on it."Young followed with a shot to give the Diamondbacks back-to-back homers for the first time in their postseason history, then celebrated with a snake strike after putting Arizona up 5-1.Wolf, 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA in two starts against Arizona during the regular season, lasted just two more innings after allowing seven runs on eight hits."I don't think it has anything to do with the D-backs," Roenicke said. "I think Wolfy, when he gets in trouble, his location isn't there, and you saw that in the first inning."Cowgill pushed Arizona up 7-3 with a two-run single in the third, Hill hit his solo homer in the sixth and Young lifted a two-run shot in the seventh.Carlos Gomez hit a two-run homer off David Hernandez in the eighth to cut Arizona's lead to 10-6, but it was too late for the Brewers.Game notes With a solo homer in Game 1 and a grand slam in Game 2, Goldschmidt joined Shane Spencer (Yankees, 1998) to hit homers in his first two postseason games, according to information provided to the Diamondbacks by the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Despite a cool night outside -- 79 degrees at game time -- the roof at Chase Field remained closed. ... Ron Cey and Dusty Baker hit grand slams for the Dodgers in games 1 and 2 of the 1977 NLCS. ... The most recent team to rally from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series was Boston against Oakland in the 2003 ALDS.

Freese's 4 RBIs help Cards even series vs. Phils

ST. LOUIS -- Big swings by a slumping hitter, clutch innings by a journeyman pitcher. Suddenly, the St. Louis Cardinals are looking very dangerous.As for the Philadelphia Phillies? Things have turned downright squirrelly.David Freese, shut down by Phillies aces the first three games, became a hometown star Wednesday night. He homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Cardinals defeated nemesis Roy Oswalt and forced a deciding fifth game in their NL playoff series by beating the favored Phillies 5-3. "This is what you worked for," said Freese, a local prep star who came to the Cardinals in a trade for Jim Edmonds after the 2007 season. "Just to do this in front of the fans of St. Louis and a bunch of friends and family, it's amazing."Center fielder Jon Jay made a sliding catch on Placido Polanco's soft fly for the final out, and was already pointing his index finger before he got to his feet."We're not looking at this like we're just happy to be here and it's David and Goliath," Cardinals slugger Lance Berkman said.Now it's back to Philadelphia for Game 5 on Friday night. Roy Halladay, who won the opener for the Phillies, will face St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter -- they played together in Toronto for five years."They're good friends and old teammates, and Carp was really chomping at the bit for this opportunity to pitch against Roy on full rest in a huge Game 5," Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday said. "It should be quite a battle and then it'll be fun to watch two great competitors go head to head and two great teams get after it."Phillies manager Charlie Manuel agreed."Might be fitting that it goes down to the fifth game," he said. "It's up to us to go get it. It's sitting right there for us. We've got our ace going, and we're at home, and so everything is sitting right there." The 102-win Phillies were picked by many to win it all. But first they must dispose of the wild-card Cardinals, who clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the season and have gotten the best of two members of the Phils' star-studded rotation.An omen, maybe: Right after Oswalt threw a pitch in the fifth, a squirrel darted across the plate.Oswalt argued, unsuccessfully, that the creature's dash had distracted him on a pitch called a ball."I didn't want to stop in the middle of my motion, so I threw it," Oswalt said. "I was wondering what size of animal it needed to be for it not to be a pitch."Manuel argued, to no avail."Of course, being from the South and being a squirrel hunter, if I had a gun there, might have did something," Manuel said. "I'm a pretty good shot." Albert Pujols was hitless in four at-bats in what could have been his final home game with the Cardinals. He received thunderous cheers every trip to the plate from a standing room crowd of 47,071, second-largest at 6-year-old Busch Stadium.Pujols made his presence known on defense, catching Chase Utley going for an extra base in the sixth. Utley drew a leadoff walk and kept running on Hunter Pence's grounder to short, but Pujols alertly jumped off first base to catch the throw and made a sharp relay to third for the out."This is obviously the playoffs, but that's a play I can make in the regular season, too," Pujols said. "If I would have stayed on the bag, it was going to be tough to get the runner at third. Obviously, that killed the rally right there."Edwin Jackson recovered from a rocky beginning to win his first playoff start. After giving up two runs on his first five pitches, he wound up throwing six solid innings. Jason Motte worked a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.Phillies cleanup hitter Ryan Howard, like Freese a St. Louis product, was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He is 0 for 8 the last two games with five strikeouts and has hit only one ball out of the infield."I think I've been a little bit anxious trying to go up and trying to make things happen instead of letting things happen," Howard said. "Right now I'm just kind of jumping, so just try to recognize pitches better."Oswalt had been 5-0 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 previous postseason starts, the biggest closing out old Busch Stadium and the Cardinals in 2005 to get Houston to its first World Series. The right-hander also worked seven shutout innings against St. Louis in the Phillies' NL East division clincher in mid-September."It's good to get some early runs, for sure," Oswalt said. "I felt pretty comfortable after that. Just two bad pitches."The biggest jolts for the Cardinals came from their seventh-place hitter. Freese was 2 for 12 the first three games with one RBI before punishing the fourth of the Phillies' aces.Freese's two-run double down the third-base line in the fourth put St. Louis up 3-2. His two-run homer to straightaway center in the sixth whipped the crowd into a towel-waving frenzy.Oswalt walked Berkman and hit Holliday, making his first start of the series, to start the fourth. Pence made a fine running catch on the right field warning track to rob Yadier Molina of extra bases, but Freese jumped on a hanging curveball with a drive down the left-field line.Holliday singled with one out in the sixth and Freese hit a 1-0 pitch to the pasture in straightaway center, not far from where a squirrel made an early appearance, for a three-run cushion. In Game 3 Tuesday, a squirrel was seen scampering in foul territory along the third base line.Five pitches into the game, the Phillies had a 2-0 lead with an assist from the late-afternoon playing conditions.Jay, standing in bright sunshine while shadows, took one step in on leadoff man Jimmy Rollins' drive on the first pitch of the game and retreated too late for a ball just over his glove that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double.Utley tripled just inside the first-base line three pitches later and Pence lined an RBI single on the next pitch.Game notes 2B Skip Schumaker was taken out with a left hamstring cramp after a flyout in the fifth -- the same at-bat the squirrel made its appearance. After disrupting play, the squirrel scampered through the stands. Schumaker is 5 for 8 in the series. ... Rollins doubled and had an infield hit his first two trips and has nine hits in the series. He has 14 multihit games in the playoffs, passing Howard for most in franchise history. ... The Cardinals became the second team to reach 100 postseason victories, trailing only the Yankees' 220.

Rangers ride Beltre's 3 home runs to next round

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Texas Rangers are headed back to the AL championship series, thanks to a power surge by Adrian Beltre that few players in major league history have matched. Beltre hit three straight home runs and the defending AL champions advanced again, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 4 Tuesday to win their playoff matchup.Texas ended the Rays' remarkable run to the AL wild-card spot, and will play for the pennant against the winner of the Detroit Tigers-New York Yankees series.Beltre became just the seventh player to homer three times in a postseason game, and the first since Adam Kennedy of the Angels in 2002. Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and George Brett also are on the list.The Texas slugger connected in his first three at-bats. Given a chance to tie the big league record of four homers in a game, Beltre hit a routine flyout in the eighth.Neftali Feliz gave up a run in the ninth inning before closing for his third save of the series.Texas won for the fifth straight time on the road overall -- all at Tropicana Field -- in the opening round. The Rangers eliminated Tampa Bay in five games last year. Ian Kinsler led off the game for Texas by homering on the second pitch from rookie Jeremy Hellickson.Then it was Beltre's turn. He came into the game in a 1-for-11 slump in this series before breaking loose."The first couple games their pitching was really good," Beltre said. "Today something changed, I felt more comfortable at the plate, and I did something to help my team win."Beltre hit solo shots off Hellickson in the second and fourth innings, and added another solo drive against Matt Moore during the seventh. The Rays weren't the only ones who had trouble keeping up with Beltre -- a television cameraman trying to run alongside Beltre to capture the image as the star jogged home did a face-first pratfall.Beltre signed with Texas in the offseason after playing last year in Boston. He and Kinsler tied for the team lead with 32 homers, and Beltre had been on a late-season tear going into the playoffs."That's one of the main reasons I came to this team. We're looking good right now, but we still have a long way to go," he said.

Cards rally past Lee to even series with Phillies

PHILADELPHIA -- Jon Jay flipped Carlos Ruiz, then Albert Pujols delivered the knockout blow.These feisty St. Louis Cardinals aren't backing down from the mighty Phillies. Pujols hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning after Cliff Lee blew a four-run lead, and the Cardinals rallied past Philadelphia 5-4 Sunday night to even their NL playoff matchup at one game each.Down early, Jay jolted Philadelphia's catcher on a bruising play at the plate. Jay was out, ending the fourth inning. The Phillies, however, couldn't block the Cardinals' path to victory."I thought that was my only option," Jay said. "I thought I got him all right, and I was hoping that the ball would come out, but it didn't. He did a good job of holding onto the ball."The NLDS shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 on Tuesday. Cole Hamels will be the third straight All-Star pitcher to face the Cardinals, who'll send Jaime Garcia to the mound.The wild-card Cardinals, who got into the postseason only after the Phillies beat Atlanta in Game 162, got the split they were looking for on the road against the team that had the best record in the majors.Lee hardly looked like the guy who used to be so dominant in the postseason. He gave up five runs and 12 hits, striking out nine in six-plus innings, to lose his third straight playoff start."I wasn't able to make my pitches, so I take full responsibility," Lee said.Pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his career, Chris Carpenter struggled for the Cardinals.But one reliever after another did the job for manager Tony La Russa. Six Cardinals relievers combined to toss six shutout innings, allowing just one hit. Jason Motte finished for a four-out save."We've been doing this all year. We don't give up," Motte said. "People counted us out, (but) we kind of went out there and just kept playing hard."After chipping away for a few innings, the Cardinals took the lead in the seventh. Allen Craig led off with a triple off center fielder Shane Victorino's glove. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Victorino misplayed the ball. He had to go a long way to make the catch, but overran it and the ball bounced off his glove.Pujols, who struck out in his previous two at-bats, lined a single over drawn-in shortstop Jimmy Rollins to give St. Louis a 5-4 lead.Cardinals players jumped up and cheered wildly in the dugout, while Phillies fans sat silently in disbelief. The red-clad faithful had their hearts broken already once Sunday.Just a few hours earlier, the Eagles blew a 20-point lead and lost 24-23 to the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL game across the street.Many fans walked over to watch the two-sport doubleheader, and the crowd of 46,575 was the largest in the eight-year history of Citizens Bank Park.For a while, it seemed the Phillies had this one under control.After all, Lee is one of the best postseason pitchers in history, and he was 17-9 with a 2.40 ERA and a major league-best six shutouts this season.Lee was 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA in his first eight playoff starts -- 4-0 with the Phillies in 2009 -- before losing Games 1 and 5 of the World Series to the San Francisco Giants as a member of the Texas Rangers last year.He's 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA in the last three outings.On a chilly night when game-time temperature was 50 degrees, Lee was the only starter in short sleeves.Maybe he got cold."Any time I got a 4-0 lead in the first or second, I feel I have the game well in hand," Lee said.Clinging to a 4-3 lead, Lee got the first two outs in the sixth. Then Ryan Theriot lined a two-out double to left and Jay followed with an opposite-field single to left. Theriot slid home safely ahead of Raul Ibanez's high throw to tie it at 4.Down 4-0, the Cardinals started their rally in the fourth. Berkman walked and Yadier Molina hit a one-out infield single. Theriot sliced an RBI double down the right-field line and Jay followed with an RBI single to get St. Louis within 4-2.Jay advanced to second on the throw to the plate, and Carpenter was pulled for pinch-hitter Nick Punto. Lee fired a 92 mph fastball by Punto for the second out.But Rafael Furcal followed with a line-drive single to left. Theriot scored and Jay came rumbling around the bases. Ibanez made a perfect one-hop throw and the ball arrived along with Jay. He slammed into Ruiz, his left forearm knocking the stocky catcher backward. But Ruiz held to temporarily prevent the tying run from scoring. Lee, backing up the plate, pumped his fist while Ruiz calmly picked up his mask and jogged to the dugout.Carpenter, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four runs and five hits in three innings. It was the shortest outing of the season for Carpenter, who led the NL with 237 1/3 innings pitched this year.The bullpen bailed him out.Fernando Salas retired all six batters he faced, and Octavio Dotel set down five in a row. Marc Rzepczynski gave up a two-out single to Rollins in the seventh, ending a streak of 15 straight batters retired. Rzepczynski left after hitting Chase Utley to start Philadelphia's eighth.Mitchell Boggs came in and got Hunter Pence to ground into a forceout. Arthur Rhodes replaced him and struck out Ryan Howard. Then it was Motte's turn.Both teams had issues with plate umpire Jerry Meals, and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa criticized the strike zone during the telecast."It's not a great comment to make, but I was upset," La Russa said. "I've never had a problem with Jerry before ever."Crew chief Jerry Layne deferred comment to Joe Torre, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations or Peter Woodfork, the senior vice president of baseball operations."My job is to make sure that I have no comment," Layne said. "It's only right that Major League Baseball is informed of what's going on, and if there's really a comment that should be made, it should come out of Joe Torre or Peter Woodfork. That's why they're in the titles that they carry."The Phillies, who overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit in Game 1, took a 3-0 lead in the first in this one.Rollins lined a double off the right-field fence and Utley and Pence walked to load the bases. Howard, who hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning Saturday, then hit a sharp single up the middle to score two runs. His grounder appeared to hit the rubber and took an odd bounce on its way to center field.Carpenter retired Victorino on a shallow fly, but Ibanez hit an RBI single to left to make it 3-0.Rollins got things started again in the second with a two-out double off the top of the right-field fence. After Utley walked, Pence lined an RBI single to right for a 4-0 lead.The Cardinals jumped on Roy Halladay 3-0 on Berkman's three-run homer in the first inning of Game 1 only to lose 11-6. They had a chance to take an early lead again after Furcal hit the first pitch of the game off the top of the right-field fence for a triple. But Lee kept him there.Game notes All-Star LF Matt Holliday again wasn't in the starting lineup for St. Louis because of a hand injury. The Cardinals were 20-18 without him in the regular season. ... Garcia is 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA in six games, four starts, vs. the Phillies. The lefty has held Philadelphia to a .178 batting average. .... Hamels is 2/3 with a 3.27 ERA in nine career starts vs. St. Louis. ... Miss America Teresa Scanlan sang the national anthem. ... This was the 219th straight sellout in Philadelphia, including postseason play.