Big blow hurts Cards

ST. LOUIS -- Craig Counsell had another big October moment, moving the Arizona Diamondbacks one win from their first NL championship series.

Counsell hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning and Arizona rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round NL playoff.

Jim Edmonds, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth, had a chance to rally the Cardinals when he batted with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. But Byung-Hyun Kim got him to fly out to deep center, and Edmonds hopped twice in frustration as he got to first base.

Kim got in trouble again in the ninth, when Kerry Robinson led off with a bunt single, took second on a wild pitch and Edgar Renteria walked.

But Mike Matheny took a called third strike and slumping Mark McGwire, who didn't start for the second straight game, pinch hit and grounded to third, starting a game-ending double play.

Albie Lopez (4-7) tries to finish off St. Louis in Game 4 today when he pitches against rookie Bud Smith (6-3). Curt Schilling, who would have started today if the Diamondbacks trailed in the series, will be held back for a potential fifth game on Sunday.

Counsell was a big part of the Florida Marlins' Game 7 win over Cleveland in the 1997 World Series, tying the game with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly and scoring the winning run in the 11th on Renteria's hit.

After Counsell's two-out homer off Mike Matthews gave Arizona a 5-2 lead, Renteria hit a solo shot off Brian Anderson in the bottom half.

Edmonds' homer, his fourth in his last 11 playoff games, gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead against Miguel Batista. In the top of the fourth, Edmonds had thrown out Mark Grace when he tried to score from second on Steve Finley's two-out single.

Cardinals starter Darryl Kile struck out five straight batters in the first and second, setting a division series record.

But he didn't have a strikeout after that and gave up a sixth-inning homer to Luis Gonzalez, who had been 0-for-10 in the series.

Kile, who allowed two runs, three hits and five walks, was replaced by Matthews following a leadoff walk to Matt Williams in the seventh.

Travis Miller singled with one out and, following a forceout at the plate, pinch-hitter Greg Colbrunn singled to tie it.

Counsell hit only four homers in 458 at-bats during the regular season, and the left-handed Matthews held left-handed batters to a .133 average with one homer in 98 at-bats.

But Counsell's drive down the line easily cleared the right-field wall.

After a single by Gonzalez, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came out to the mound and was booed by the sellout crowd of 52,273 when he took the ball. After Mike Timlin relieved, La Russa was booed again when he walked back to the dugout.

NOTES: Tony Orlando, standing in front of the center field backdrop, led the crowd in singing "God Bless America" in the seventh-inning stretch. ... Gonzalez hit 57 homers in the regular season, 31 on the road. ... The Diamondbacks were 44-37 on the road in the regular season, third-best in the NL. ... Craig Paquette, who replaced Mark McGwire in the sixth slot for the second straight game, was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He's 1-for-7 with five strikeouts in the series. ... Arizona was 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-15 in the first two games. St. Louis was 1-for-7, dropping to 1-for-20.