Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals sure looked like the best team in baseball.
St. Louis advanced to the National League championship series for the third time in five years, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 Sunday night to win their first-round playoff 3-1.
Jeff Suppan settled down after a shaky start, Pujols hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off loser Wilson Alvarez in the fourth inning and the Cardinals kept the Dodgers searching for their first postseason series victory since they won the 1988 World Series.
After Jason Isringhausen struck out Alex Cora to end the game, members of both teams met in the middle of the field and shook hands, and the fans stood and applauded.
While common at the end of playoff series in the NHL, teams shaking hands on the field after a series is a rarity in baseball -- it happened after Minnesota's 10-inning win over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.
"I think it was a professional show of class between two very classy organizations," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "To play this series the way it was played with the intensity it was played, it said a lot."
St. Louis, a major league-best 105-57 during the regular season, starts the NLCS at home Wednesday against the winner of Monday night's fifth game between Atlanta and Houston. The Cardinals are trying to become the first team with the top regular-season record to win the World Series since the 1998 New York Yankees.
"We showed a lot of heart, just like they did," said Cardinals' outfielder Larry Walker, who had two hits, walked twice and scored three runs in the finale. ``We have an opportunity, but we want to stay at an even keel -- except for this half hour here when we can act like a bunch of fools.''
Pujols had two hits, a walk and four RBIs drove in four runs. He went 5-of-15 with two homers in the series.
"Albert is a tremendous player, he does amazing things out there," Suppan said. "With him and everyone else, it's the best team I've been on."
As Pujols' towering fly ball sailed just over left fielder Jayson Werth into the lower left-field stands, the raucous crowd of 56,268 -- the largest in Dodger Stadium history -- went silent. Pujols, one of baseball's best hitters, delivered on a 3-1 pitch for his second homer of the series.
Suppan, who went 10-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 14 road starts this season, allowed two hits in seven innings,
Werth, the second batter Suppan faced, homered to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals tied it in the second off Odalis Perez on a homer by Reggie Sanders one pitch after Jim Edmonds was thrown out stealing.
St. Louis got another run in the third, when Perez was chased after two walks a one-out, RBI single by Edgar Renteria. Alvarez relieved and struck out Edmonds and Sanders.
Adrian Beltre's sacrifice fly tied it 2-all in the fourth, but the Dodgers had only two more runners -- Cesar Izturis got a one-out infield single in the eighth, and Milton Bradley drew a two-out walk in the ninth.
Pujols added a run for the Cardinals with an RBI single in the seventh.
Braves 6, Astros 5
In Houston, Adam LaRoche hit a tying, three-run homer in the sixth inning and J.D. Drew singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth Sunday as the Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 6-5 to tie the best-of-five NL series at two games apiece.
"We get to go back home and the plane ride's a lot easier," Atlanta closer John Smoltz said. "We worked very hard to get home-field advantage and we need to take care of it. I feel like we got a break today."
Jaret Wright, the Game 1 loser, starts for the Braves on Monday at Turner Field against 20-game winner Roy Oswalt, who didn't get a decision in Game 2.
Pitching on only three days' rest, Roger Clemens left after five innings with a 5-2 lead, but the Braves rallied to snap Houston's 19-game home winning streak. It was another agonizing loss in October for the Astros, still looking to win a postseason series for the first time.
"Streaks are streaks, they've got to come to an end some time," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Houston tried to mount its own comeback in the bottom of the ninth, when Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman singled off Smoltz with one out to put runners at the corners. Smoltz then got his record 14th postseason win when Jeff Kent grounded into a game-ending double play.
On the verge of its third consecutive first-round loss, Atlanta made its move right after Chad Qualls replaced Clemens. Chipper Jones singled, Andruw Jones doubled with one out and LaRoche homered into the Astros' bullpen in right.
The winning rally began when Russ Springer, who relieved Brad Lidge to start the ninth, hit Rafael Furcal with a pitch with two outs and Furcal stole second.
Drew, hitless in three previous at-bats Sunday and 2-for-15 in the series to that point, singled to right-center, with Furcal scoring easily.
"Three runs is not enough against that team," Kent said. "And then they bring in a guy like Smoltz, who is dominating. It's tough to score runs against him. You have to get ahead against them early so you don't have to face a guy like that."
Coming into Sunday, Clemens was 0-3 with a 6.98 ERA on short rest. He was making a quick turnaround for the first time since April 11, 2002. And he hadn't pitched on three days' rest in the postseason since a loss to Oakland in 2000.
New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was headed back to Panama on Sunday, a day after two of his wife's relatives were electrocuted while cleaning the pool at his home.
Victor Dario Avila, a cousin of Rivera's wife, Clara, and his 14-year-old son were killed Saturday, Rivera's cousin, Irma Rivera, told The Associated Press.
The teenager, also named Victor Dario Avila, apparently touched an electrical wire while cleaning the pool in Puerto Caimito, 70km east of Panama City. His father died trying to save him, Irma Rivera said.
It was not immediately clear when Rivera would return to New York, where the Yankees open the AL championship series Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox.
Yankees manager Joe Torre was expected to address the matter during Monday's workout at Yankee Stadium. New York advanced by beating Minnesota 6-5 in 11 innings Saturday, with Rivera getting the win.
Avila was a fisherman who also cleaned and maintained Rivera's home. Clara Rivera was traveling to Panama following the accident, family members said.
"Everyone is sad," Irma Rivera said. "Victor was a good man."
Ken Caminiti dies
Ken Caminiti, the 1996 National League Most Valuable Player who later admitted using steroids during his major league baseball career, died. He was 41.
Caminiti died Sunday of a heart attack in New York City, said his agent-lawyer Rick Licht. The city medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be performed Monday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
"I'm still in shock," San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers said. ``He was one of my favorite all-time players.''
The three-time All-Star third baseman often was in trouble the last few years. His 15-year big league career ended in 2001, five seasons after he led the Padres to a division title and was a unanimous pick for MVP.
Last Tuesday, he admitted in a Houston court that he had violated his probation by testing positive for cocaine last month, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
But state District Judge William Harmon gave Caminiti credit for the 189 days he had already served in jail and a treatment facility since he was sentenced to three years probation for a cocaine arrest in March 2001.
In May 2002, Caminiti told Sports Illustrated that he used steroids during his MVP season, when he hit a career-high .326 with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. He estimated half the players in the big leagues were also using them.
Caminiti returned to baseball this year as a spring training instructor with San Diego.
"When I saw him in spring training, he didn't look good," Towers said. "I'm not surprised."
"The best way to describe him is that he was a warrior in every sense of the word. I can't tell you how many times I remember him hobbling into the manager's office, barely able to walk, and saying, `Put me in the lineup.'"
"Man, that's just a tough one. I played with him for eight years," Dodgers outfielder Steve Finley said Sunday night, learning of Caminiti's death after St. Louis eliminated Los Angeles from the playoffs.
"He was a great player, but he got mixed up in the wrong things -- taking drugs. It's a sad reminder of how bad drugs are and what they can do to your body. It's a loss all of us will feel."
Caminiti batted .272 with 239 homers and 983 RBIs with Houston, San Diego, Texas and Atlanta.
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