ST. LOUIS (AP) – Two strikes to go and the season hanging in the balance, there’s nobody the St. Louis Cardinals would rather have at the plate than Albert Pujols.

From his first day in the major leagues as a relatively unknown 21-year-old who played wherever his team needed him, Pujols has been one of the best in the game.

So it’s no surprise the Cardinals worked hard to put the game in Pujols’ hands.

And, he responded by shocking the Houston Astros with a dramatic three-run homer that cut Houston Astros’ NL championship series lead to 3-2 and sent the series back to St. Louis for Game 6 tonight

David Eckstein, who started the two-out rally when he scratched out a single against Astros closer Brad Lidge, knew more than ever that he had to be a table-setter.

“It was one of those things that you just find a way to get Albert up,” Eckstein said. “That was probably the thought process for a lot of people in that dugout.

“Because if he’s up we’ve got at least two guys on and we have a chance.”

Pujols is among the leading MVP candidates this year after finishing second in batting (.330) while hitting 41 homers and driving in 117 runs and leading the majors with 129 runs.

It’s typical production from the first player in major league history to hit 30 homers in his first five seasons, the third-youngest player to reach 200 homers, the fourth player to begin his career with five straight 100-RBI seasons.

“He’s obviously the best I’ve ever played with,” Game 6 starter Mark Mulder said. “I was with (Jason) Giambi the year he won the MVP, but what Albert does day in and day out is just so impressive.

“He’s unlike anybody else, he’s a special player.”

That he got the biggest hit of a meteoric career on the national stage, following Eckstein’s single and Jim Edmonds’ walk, could elevate the perception of a player who in a matter of seconds silenced a raucous sellout crowd.

“I can give you 50 examples of what he’s done,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I think the reality is that a lot of people kind of watch the playoffs and don’t pay a lot of attention or as close attention.

“Forever now, as long as baseball history is repeated, that home run is going to be part of history and Albert will have his place in it.”

Then again, he’s already finished second in the MVP voting twice, in 2002-03, and was rookie of the year in 2001. So those in the know, know.

“He and Barry Bonds are the two greatest hitters in the game right now, I’ve always thought that, and him hitting this home run doesn’t change my views,” pitcher Jason Marquis said.

“To me, that’s one guy I wouldn’t like to face in that situation whether he hit the home run or not.”

Entering Game 6, Pujols is batting .447 the last two postseasons against the Astros, with six homers and 15 RBIs. Astros Game 6 starter Roy Oswalt said what makes Pujols a challenge is his ability to power the ball to all fields.

“With him, you can make a pretty good pitch away or make a pretty good pitch in and he’ll hit it out to either left or right field,” Oswalt said. “You’ve got to respect that he can hit the ball out of the park, but you can’t be afraid of him, for sure.”

True to form, on Tuesday Pujols was already tired of talking about the homer that soared into the Houston night well beyond the short porch at Minute Maid Park.

“You guys are making a big deal of this,” he told reporters. “This is not the last game of the World Series, this is just another game. We need to move on.

“I’ve seen all the highlights but it’s not over, we still have a long way to go.”

Pujols was more interested in what the hit might do for the team’s slumbering offense. They’re batting .223 in the postseason and are 6-for-35 with runners in scoring position in the NLCS, and Pujols has six of the 15 RBIs.

“Hopefully this is the spark that we were looking for,” Pujols said.

“I know we were struggling a little bit – not a little bit, a lot – in Houston with the bats. Getting that big win against one of the best closers in the game is always big.”

The offense should get a bit of help with third baseman Abraham Nunez likely to return to the lineup. Nunez missed two games with a deep thigh bruise after being tripped up by Astros baserunner Jason Lane, but tested himself during the team’s optional workout on Tuesday.

AP-ES-10-18-05 1953EDT

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