on John Mabry's single to put the Cardinals up 3−0. The Astros cut it to 3−1 in the bottom of the inning when Carlos Beltran walked with one out off Jeff Bagwell's double off Jason Marquis. In the top of the third, Pujols drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Rolen's single and scored on Jim Edmonds' sacrifice fly, but the Astros cut the lead to 4−3 when Beltran and Bagwell singled with one out and scored on Lance Berkman's double. Pujols's single with two on in the fourth put the Cardinals up 5−3, but the Astros cut the lead back to one on Berkman's leadoff home run in the sixth off Kiko Calero. Jose Vizcaino doubled two outs later and scored on Raul Chavez's single to tie the game. Next inning, Beltran's home run off Julián Tavárez put the Astros up 6−5. Brad Lidge pitched two shutout innings for the save as the Astros evened the series with the Cardinals at two games apiece. Beltrán tied records for the most home runs in a single postseason (8) and most consecutive postseason games with a home run (5). The latter record would be broken by Daniel Murphy in Game Four of the 2015 NLCS. Game 5 Monday, October 18, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas The Astros defeated the Cardinals 3–0 in Game 5 with Jeff Kent driving in the winning runs with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth off Jason Isringhausen. Astros starter Brandon Backe took a perfect game into the fifth inning, when he walked Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds, and allowed only one hit (a single to second baseman Tony Womack in the sixth) in eight innings. The Cardinals' Woody Williams was nearly as effective, allowing only one hit (a two-out single to Jeff Bagwell in the first) and two walks over seven innings. Kent's home run was the first walkoff postseason home run for an Astro player since Alan Ashby in Game 1 of the 1981 National League Division Series. Houston led the best-of-seven series 3–2 and was one win away from their first World Series appearance. Game 6 Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri Returning to St. Louis, Matt Morris started Game 6 for the Cardinals, as did Pete Munro for the Astros. The scoring began with Carlos Beltrán walking with one