By John Raffel

St. Louis, MO

The St. Louis Cardinals accomplished a few things Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers and now enter Game 3 of the National League Championship Series feeling pretty good about themselves.

The Cardinals evened the series at a game apiece with a 12-3 rout of the Brewers in Game 2 but they also accomplished a couple of other things that may prove to be just as important.

St. Louis now hosts the next three games and a sweep of them will send it back to the World Series. The Cardinals took home-field advantage from the Brewers with Monday's win and poked a hole in Milwaukee's seeming invincibility at Miller Park.

"If you want to make it a competitive series, winning a game here, that's a big step in the right direction," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Just as important as the win was the fact that Albert Pujols finally got going with a four-hit night and five RBI.

He went 4-for-5 with a homer and three doubles, a welcomed sight after driving in just one run in St. Louis' first six playoff games.

Pujols' heroics helped St. Louis pick up a crucial road win. Milwaukee was the best home team in the majors all season and the Brewers had won its first four home games in the playoffs.

Now the Cardinals send ace Chris Carpenter to the mound for Game 3. Carpenter is coming off a three-hit shutout in Game 5 of the Division Series at Philadelphia.

The Brewers will try to recapture the momentum in the series behind Yovani Gallardo, who allowed two runs and 10 hits in 14 innings in two starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS. The Brewers won both of Gallardo's starts.

 

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Cardinals Roll to NLCS Game 2 Win; Head Home With Series Tied