Clutch Fielding Gives Houston 3-1 Lead in NLCS

Astros 2, Cardinals 1

HOUSTON, Oct. 16 -- They jumped out of the dugout Sunday as if they had already booked their plane tickets to the World Series and the champagne was waiting in the clubhouse. There is still one more game to win, but it is all now falling so perfectly into place for the Houston Astros, who have never before tasted so much joy or felt so close to a championship. A painful ninth inning had tested them, and when they survived, they celebrated boisterously.

"It was an extraordinary end to a difficult, tight-fought game," catcher Brad Ausmus said. "It was an exhale of jubilation."

Houston Manager Phil Garner seemingly can do no wrong and his players are flawless in pressure situations, such as when a slow ground ball hit to a backup infielder starts a difficult double play that has the Astros one win away from the World Series. After a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, they have a 3-1 lead in the series, and only a collapse can keep them from their first World Series.

A game that had been so slow and tedious turned nerve-wracking for Houston in the ninth inning when the Cardinals' Albert Pujols and Larry Walker singled against closer Brad Lidge, putting men on first and third with no outs. This is not common for Lidge. He rarely fails and does so even less in the postseason. But there he was in a tight situation and even the most optimistic Astro thought this game was destined for at least another inning.

"My gut said it would be a tie game," Ausmus said.

The first task was to get out Reggie Sanders, who hit a ground ball to third baseman Morgan Ensberg. With the Cardinals' offense appearing more meek every day, Pujols said he felt he had no choice but to take a chance despite third base coach Jose Oquendo's objections.

"He told me to stay at third," Pujols said. "But I read the ball and I thought the ball was going to die in the grass. It was instinct."

The third baseman threw home and Pujols was out.

"That was easy because you saw Pujols running in front of you," Ensberg said. "There was really no other play."

Then confusion came. After Ensberg's throw to nab Pujols, Ausmus stood at home with the ball and Walker took the opportunity to run to third base.

"When Albert slid into home plate," Ausmus said, "his foot hit my cleat and I was limping. I was thinking that time was going to be called."

But it wasn't. Instead Walker, who had taken second base on the play, decided to take a chance and run to third while Ausmus held the ball. The catcher, not noticing Walker, flipped the ball to Lidge.