Cards live to see decisive Game 5

ST. LOUIS -- Bud Smith found a way to top himself.

The 21-year-old rookie, who threw a no-hitter last month, did his part to send the St. Louis Cardinals to a decisive Game 5 in the NL playoffs.

In his mind, at least, his resourceful five-inning outing Saturday in a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that evened the series at two games each was more satisfying than his no-hit gem at San Diego.

"This game means a lot more to us, to the team," Smith said. "It was do-or-die and we weren't ready to go home. We're ready to go to Phoenix."

Now, all they have to do is beat Curt Schilling. At Bank One Ballpark.

Jim Edmonds sparked the wild card Cardinals with another home run and another stellar catch, Fernando Vina hit a two-run homer and Dustin Hermanson pitched three perfect innings in relief.

Game 5 at 6:50 p.m. CDT today is a rematch of Game 1, when Schilling threw a three-hitter to beat Matt Morris 1-0. Schilling and Morris tied for the major league lead with 22 wins.

"I'd rather not be pitching tomorrow, I'd rather be pitching Tuesday (against Atlanta)," Schilling said. "We've got 50 guys whose entire season comes down to nine innings."

The start of the game was delayed 3 hours, 36 minutes by rain. That's longer than the game itself lasted, but the vast majority of the fans stuck around at Busch Stadium.

"I was bored out of my mind, wondering when we were going to be able to play," Vina said.

Smith, who turns 22 on Oct. 23, won in his first career postseason appearance. He is three months younger than Rick Ankiel, who fell apart in the playoffs last year, throwing nine wild pitches in four innings against Atlanta and the New York Mets.

But on Saturday, as in his no-hitter, he was unflappable.

"He was never a rookie," manager Tony La Russa said.

The rain delay didn't seem to bother Smith, although he was a lot more deliberate than usual and far from his no-hit form.

"I was a little bit nervous going into the game, a little butterflies," Smith said. "I was ready to go at noon, so I had a lot of time to think about it."

Smith, who struggled in his final regular-season outing, threw 98 pitches. He avoided big damage in a first-inning jam, allowing an RBI single to Steve Finley, and stranded two runners each in the third and fourth innings.

Smith bailed himself out in the third, picking Tony Womack off second with a perfect throw to Vina.

"We work on our pickoffs and stuff," Smith said. "I just turned and fired and he was caught leaning."

The Diamondbacks hit several foul long balls, getting out way ahead of Smith's soft tosses.

"I thought he pitched a tremendous ballgame, especially after that first inning," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. "He executed his pitches, he put balls on the corners and kept it at the knees."

Vina was 3-for-3 and scored twice for the Cardinals, who were an NL-best 54-28 at home.

Edmonds hit his fifth career playoff homer -- and second in two games -- and added a running catch at the center-field wall to rob pinch-hitter Erubiel Durazo of extra bases in the seventh.

St. Louis also got good relief work from Hermanson, a 14-game winner bounced from the rotation for the first round. He rebounded from letting a two-run lead get away in a 5-3 Game 3 loss Friday night.

Vina helped manufacture the tying run in the bottom of the first when he hit a leadoff single for the third straight game and scored on J.D. Drew's infield hit.

Smith drew a full-count walk off Albie Lopez (0-1) and scored on Vina's two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the third. The Cardinals scored in consecutive innings for the first time in the series to make it 4-1.

Hermanson, who had four saves as the Expos' stand-in closer when Ugueth Urbina was injured last year, retired nine straight batters.

"It's great to pick up the team anyway possible," Hermanson said. "I just like to pitch, I really don't care what it is. Especially right now, I'll be the bat boy if they want me to."

Steve Kline worked the ninth for his second save of the series.

Lopez, a July pickup by the Diamondbacks from Tampa Bay, finished the regular season strong, allowing one run in his last 17 innings. He struggled from the start in Game 4 and manager Bob Brenly yanked him after he gave up four runs on four hits in only three innings.

"I feel like I let the team down," Lopez said. "They gave me the ball in a big game and I didn't come through."

NOTES: In Smith's final regular-season outing, he gave up six runs in three innings in a 9-7 loss at Milwaukee Oct. 3. ... Lopez gave up 26 homers in 205 2-3 regular-season innings. ... The Cardinals were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, making them 2-for-27 in the series. ... During the lengthy rain delay, Cardinals pitcher Woody Williams -- the Game 2 winner -- ventured into the stands and signed numerous autographs for more than a half-hour. ... Craig Counsell's go-ahead, three-run homer Friday night was the first of his career against a left-handed pitcher. ... Vina hit four of his nine homers in the last 10 regular-season games. ... Finley is 7-for-15 in the series with two RBIs. ... Arizona's Matt Williams was hitless in three at-bats with a walk, and is 0-for-12 in the series. ... Ankiel, who spent most of the season at the rookie league level, is at the Arizona Instructional League. ... The Cardinals' Placido Polanco had three sacrifice bunts, tying the major league postseason record set by the Cubs' Joe Tinker in the 1906 World Series against the White Sox. St. Louis has seven sacrifices in the series, a major league record.