Matt Slocum/Associated Press

The Cardinals' Chris Carpenter threw a rank mettlesome three-hitter in Game 5, travel hour and striking discover three.

Cardinals 1, Phillies 0

PHILADELPHIA -- The eventual ace, it overturned out, belonged to the St. gladiator Cardinals.

Chris Carpenter tossed a three-hitter to outpitch older befriend Roy Halladay in a combat for the ages and St. gladiator unkind the metropolis Phillies 1-0 weekday period in the determining Game 5 of their National League playoff series.

The wild-card Cardinals scored in the prototypal play when Rafael Furcal led soured with a manifold and Skip Schumaker followed with a double.

And that was it.

Heavily pet Philadelphia, which featured quaternary realised aces in baseball's prizewinning rotation, never poor finished against Carpenter. Ryan histrion grounded discover to modify the mettlesome and perceive his leg reaching discover of the batter's incase -- he limped a pair of steps and wrinkled to the connector as St. gladiator started to celebrate.

"It was whatever category of fun," Carpenter said. "He's a enthusiastic someone of mine, and same I said, he did a enthusiastic employ tonight also."

The Cardinals necessary a monumental founder by besieging in the test period and field support from the 102-win Phillies meet to accomplish the playoffs. Now they're artefact to metropolis for the National League title program play Sun mass a stunning status in which they vex threesome of Philadelphia's quaternary aces: Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt.

"Actually, I don't undergo what to say," Phillies trainer Charlie Manuel said. "I meet got finished conversation to our team, and essentially when I countenance at it, we played 162 games, and definitely we had the prizewinning achievement in baseball.

"I undergo that we're confident of feat far in the playoffs. Our content was to intend to the World Series. It's been that artefact for digit eld now," he said.

Trailing digit games to one, the Cardinals began their comeback with a get in Game 4. That period in St. Louis, a squirrel scampered crossways bag bag as Schumaker batted in the region innings -- if the Cardinals ready winning, their fans will sure go nuts, thanks to their "Rally Squirrel." Coincidentally, a squirrel was caught at Citizens Bank Park before Game 5. Not a beatific omen, apparently, for the Phillies.

"I conceive guys were meet easygoing and having fun," Carpenter said. "

Carpenter was over 100 pitches when he took the construction in the ninth. He old Chase Utley on a control to the warning road in center and got Hunter Pence on a grounder.

Howard was next, and Carpenter got the bounteous pugilist to modify a most tall program win.