In the 7th inning, the score stood at 2-1 Cardinals.

“You shall not win so easily,” said the Gods of Baseball. “Sons of LaRussa shall be tested in faith!”

And just like that, an error, a single, and a home run put the Astros ahead 4-2. Lance Berkman, being the disciple of the aforementioned mythical spirit of baseball, launched the baseball bleacher-ward.

As you know by now, Uber-closer Brad Lidge had his 2nd straight shaky outing, notching two outs against the chafe of the Cardinals order, Dos Johns. Then a seeing eye single by David Eckstein, who was then proclaimed the best/toughest/grittiest (might as well just called him “whitest”) baseball player ever by Thom Brenneman and Bob Brenley. Steve Lyons just smugly nodded. He knows who butters his Eckstein.

I digress. Lidge, fearful of Jim Edmonds, throws but one pitch in five in the vicinity of the strike zone. Luckily, Edmonds obliged by swinging at a nasty slider. The rules of baseball where on Edmonds side, where four balls signify a walk and he trotted down to first. Cue Pujols. Two pitches later, the ball is crushed into the relatively large Texas (that’s where Houston is) night.

Lidge pouts. Pujols chortles. 5-4 St Louis final.

The Astros have won two playoff series in their 43 year history: the 2004 NLDS, and the 2005 NLDS, both against Atlanta. Twice before, they were in the NLCS (out of three times) and held the elimination game and blew it in the final two (2-1 in 1980 [best of five] and 3-2 in 2004). Right now, baseball is forcing the Astros to look down the same barrel of the same gun.

What is in the Astros’ favor? Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens are slated to pitch the next two games, and the kind of bizarre fluky fact that the Cardinals are 1-3 in NLCS in the Wild Card era. Also, it’s pretty tough to lose a series when you stake out to the 3-1 lead (though it has happened in the last two seasons).

In the checkered history of the Houston Astros, they have folded more than they have succeeded. Although they are still odds-on-favorite to take this series, the game tonight obviously didn’t help bring the Astros their first National League pennant.

Tonight guaranteed more baseball to be played by these two teams. I have no real rooting interest in this game, so I could just watch and enjoy, and I was treated to one of the better games of the post season so far. For the first time since mid-September, baseball is fun again. Yes, my friends, baseball is fun again because of the drama of the post season was rejuvenated by Messers Pujols and Berkman.