ST. LOUIS — David Freese homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals tagged playoff nemesis Roy Oswalt and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Wednesday night, forcing a deciding fifth game in their NL division series.
    Edwin Jackson recovered from a rocky beginning to win his first playoff start with six solid innings. Jason Motte worked a perfect ninth for his second save of the series.
    Albert Pujols was hitless in four at-bats in what could have been his final home game with the Cardinals. He received thunderous cheers every trip to the plate from a standing room crowd of 47,071, second-largest at 6-year-old Busch Stadium.
    Roy Halladay, the Game 1 winner, will face St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter on Friday night in Philadelphia.


    NEW YORK (AP) — All the months of preparation, all the millions of dollars, all the hopes of the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers come down to this: Ivan Nova vs. Doug Fister for a berth in the AL championship series.
    Just three months ago, one had been demoted to the minor leagues and the other was languishing with a 3-12 record for last-place Seattle.
    On the first off-day of a series interrupted by rain in New York last weekend, there was a cloudless blue sky over Yankee Stadium. But both teams decided not to work out ahead of Thursday night's Game 5, which determines who will play defending AL champion Texas for a berth in the World Series.

Rangers advance again
    ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers are back in the AL championship series and waiting for an opponent.
    This is a team that didn't win a postseason series in the franchise's first 49 seasons before getting to the World Series last year. Now the Rangers have advanced in the playoffs two years in a
 row.
    "We committed ourselves to a goal (last spring) and they made it to that goal, we are getting another opportunity to play to go to the World Series," manager Ron Washington said Wednesday, a day after the Rangers wrapped up their AL division series with a 4-3 victory at Tampa Bay.
    "I don't see where it gives us any advantage," he said. "The only thing it does, we certainly know what we have to do. I think our guys are more aware of getting to this point is not where we want to be. We want to be playing in the World Series."
    Game 1 of the AL championship series is Saturday. For the Rangers, it will be either an ALCS rematch starting at the New York Yankees or at home against Detroit.