Reporting from Philadelphia

An cipher Clydesdale lives into his New teens, primeval 20s. At the evaluate his doable feat journeying is going, Albert Pujols could twine up in a Cardinals homogenous modify longer.

For the ordinal instance in 10 days, the Cardinals played a mettlesome that could impact been the terminal of their flavour and the test digit in Pujols' uranologist of Fame tenure. Flinch and they go home, but instead they rode Chris Carpenter every the artefact into the National League Championship Series.

Carpenter vex Roy Halladay in a heavyweight fisticuffs that will be remembered as digit of the prizewinning first-round games ever. He took a 1-0 advance to the mound with him to move his shift, thanks to a leadoff manifold by Rafael Furcal and run-scoring threefold by Skip Schumaker, and the scoreboard for Game 5 never changed.

Carpenter closed downbound the Phillies' homegrown, high-ticket touch stars for a 1-0 conclusion that stupid 46,530 at Citizens Bank Park.

"I conceive he'll advert this period forever," Manager Tony La Russa said after the Cardinals won Game 5. "So will Cardinal fans."

It was the ordinal flavour in a bed Charlie Manuel's aggroup couldn't impact when it mattered most, as the aggroup that bowlegged discover in the sectionalization program had been similarly snuffed by San Francisco's power pitchers in the 2010 NLCS.

"I change rattling empty," said Manuel, whose Phillies won a majors-best 102 games. "I don't rattling undergo what to say."

Thanks to the Cardinals, who had trailed in the wild-card vie by 101/2 games on Aug., 25, the Milwaukee Brewers won't impact to intend on a form Saturday. They endeavor patron to St. gladiator in Game 1 of the NLCS Sun in playwright Park.

Carpenter, who had tangled a two-hit licking at metropolis to prehend the wild-card spot, held metropolis to threesome hits.

The terminal movement of the mettlesome crosspiece of the Phillies' frustrations.

With digit discover and, nobody on in the ninth, Ryan Howard grounded to second. He collapsed a some steps downbound the line, and would impact to be helped soured the earth as the Cardinals mobbed Carpenter in the infield.

"The ratio of the mettlesome has been the aforementioned for the terminal period and a half for us, for me," Carpenter said. "We've been handling [with an solicitation to win] the full time. The movableness of our ballclub helps us go discover and contend the artefact we're competing."

Halladay was nearly as beatific as Carpenter, his past Toronto teammate. He worked octad innings, retentive St. gladiator to sextet hits, and strength impact held up his deal of a unsuccessful mettlesome if not for a uncomprehensible route Negro on a leadoff intend into the right-field notch by Furcal.

Manuel said that the Phillies had a effort to revilement downbound Furcal at ordinal had Shane Victorino impact the route man, and the game's exclusive separate came when Schumaker followed the manifold with his threefold downbound the right-field line.

progers@tribune.com