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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Oswalt decks Cards to knot series


Houston starter Roy Oswalt delivers a first-inning pitch to St. Louis on Thursday. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Paul Newberry Associated Press

ST. LOUIS – Roy Oswalt took the toss, stepped on first and pumped his fist, an unlikely show of emotion from Houston’s laid-back 20-game winner after his biggest – and last – pitch of the game.

Oswalt and the Astros showed it’s possible to win on the road in the National League championship series.

Now, it’s back to Texas.

Oswalt pitched seven stellar innings, Chris Burke kept up his unlikely postseason hitting and the Astros got past the St. Louis Cardinals and all their red-clad fans 4-1 Thursday night.

Houston evened the best-of-7 series at one game apiece and headed home for the next three contests. Game 3 is Saturday, with Roger Clemens set to go for the Astros against Matt Morris.

“I was pretty pumped up,” Oswalt said. “It’s a key game, for sure, to leave here with a split and go home to play three games.”

While Oswalt’s performance hardly classified as a surprise – after all, he’s had consecutive 20-win seasons – but the same can’t be said for Burke.

The rookie outfielder came through in the division series with an 18th-inning homer that knocked out Atlanta, and he had a pinch-hit, two-run homer Wednesday in Houston’s Game 1 loss to St. Louis.

One night later, Burke got his first postseason start and made the most of it, scoring two runs and driving in another with a two-out single in the eighth.

“He has not had a chance to play much in the postseason,” teammate Craig Biggio said, “but he’s been a huge contributor for us and a big lift.”

Burke’s RBI single ended Houston’s 0-for-14 drought with runners in scoring position and improved his postseason numbers to 5 for 8 with two homers and four RBIs.

“Well, I was hardly the hero tonight,” Burke said. “Roy was great – seven innings pitched and one run. He bailed us out quite a few times. Luckily, I was able to get a couple knocks.”

The only knock for the Cardinals was Albert Pujols’ 438-foot homer leading off the sixth.

Otherwise, Oswalt made every big pitch he needed, improving his career postseason record to 3-0 by allowing just five hits and striking out six.

“Stuff-wise, he’s as good as it gets in this league,” St. Louis’ Jim Edmonds said.

Edmonds should know. The dangerous left-handed hitter twice faced the right-handed Oswalt with two runners on – and didn’t come through either time.

In the fifth, Edmonds took a called third strike on a 3-2 fastball at the knees. Two innings later, the crowd of 52,358 – nearly all of them adorned in red – was in an uproar after the Cardinals put runners at first and second with only one out.

But Oswalt retired David Eckstein with a fly ball to center, then got Edmonds on a grounder to first – the last of the starter’s 108 pitches. Oswalt covered on the play, pumping his fist after he took the flip from Lance Berkman.

Houston scrounged for a couple of runs off Mark Mulder – one scoring on a passed ball, the other on Biggio’s groundout. The Astros added two more in the eighth off reliever Julian Tavares.

Brad Lidge came on for a two-inning save, closing out the six-hitter with three strikeouts.

The Central Division rivals are meeting in the NLCS for the second year in a row, with the first eight games all won by the home team.

The 2004 series went the distance, with St. Louis advancing to the World Series by winning four games at Busch Stadium. The streak continued with the Cardinals’ victory Wednesday.

Now, St. Louis has to win at least one game in Texas – something it couldn’t do last year – to bring the series back to soon-to-be demolished Busch, which will be replaced next season by a new stadium going up next door.

“We’re definitely pleased to take one game here and take the momentum,” Burke said. “We’re excited to get home to our fans and that place will be rocking.”

Burke’s run-scoring single gave the Astros a 3-1 lead, and he came all the way around to score when Adam Everett tripled off the glove of left-fielder Reggie Sanders.

Sanders, the Cardinals’ hottest postseason hitter with 12 RBIs, fell awkwardly on the warning track and left the game with a sprained lower back. Manager Tony La Russa isn’t sure if Sanders will play in Game 3.

“The doctor said it was like a train wreck,” La Russa said.