The Cardinals rallied twice, once from a 5-0 hole and a 6-5 deficit to come back and beat the Houston Astros soundly, 13-6, to move into a tie with Atlanta (7-1 losers to Philly) for the wild card on the final day of the 2011 season.
Houston took a 5-0 lead by the third inning, scoring four in the third off Jake Westbrook, who didn’t finish the inning. However, the Cardinals battled by scoring five in the fourth inning. An RBI single from Yadier Molina, three run double from Skip Schumaker and later a sac fly from Jon Jay tied the game.
Houston went up 6-5 in the fifth, but the Cardinals came back in the seventh tying the game on a double by Allen Craig, a two run triple from Ryan Theriot and a Nick Punto double.
Craig would cash in again with a three run homer in the eighth and Punto tacked on a solo shot in the ninth. Craig finished with four RBIs after coming in to replace Matt Holliday.
Holliday aggravated his sore right hand and will not play. Rafael Furcal has a tight left hamstring and will sit out Wednesday as well. He could be ready for a possible one game playoff if needed on Thursday.
Chris Carpenter pitches for the Cardinals against Brett Myers in the regular-season finale on Wednesday. Myers has won four straight games and has a 1.24 ERA in his last five starts. Carpenter is 7-5 in his career against the Astros, but hasn’t won in Houston since 2005.