HOUSTON -- After St. Louis was swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in late August, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa thought his team would fall short of the post-season once again. Less than a month later, the Cardinals are tied with Atlanta for the NL wild-card lead. Pinch-hitter Ryan Theriot delivered a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh inning, leading St. Louis to a 13-6 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night. The sliding Braves lost 7-1 to Philadelphia, sending the race for the NLs final playoff spot to the last day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after Wednesdays game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff on Thursday night. "Yeah, when we got swept by the Dodgers," La Russa said when asked if he doubted his team could make such a run. "When I saw our schedule I said: We could finish under .500 if we dont start getting it back together. And we did." St. Louis has won 21 of 29 games since that sweep, moving to the brink of what not so long ago seemed like an improbable goal. "Its kind of fed us here the last few days, 120 years of baseball and this is one of those historic runs to tie," La Russa said. "But theres a different story between tying and finishing it off. So tomorrow well see if we can go take another step." The Cardinals trailed 5-0 early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the Astros. But St. Louis scored five times in the fourth and erased a 6-5 deficit with a four-run seventh. Lance Berkman hit a two-out single and scored on Allen Craigs tying double. Craig entered in the third inning when Matt Holliday departed with discomfort in his right hand. Yadier Molina walked before Theriot hit his clutch triple to make it 8-6. Nick Punto, who had four hits, doubled in Theriot in the seventh and had a solo homer in the ninth. Craig padded the lead with a three-run homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field in the eighth. "You play all year for an opportunity to play in October," Theriot said. "So its a good feeling to know that we put ourselves in a spot that we could possibly do that, to do what weve done this last month and keep playing." Eduardo Sanchez (3-1) struck out two in 1 1-3 innings for the win in a game that included seven Cardinals relievers following an early exit by Jake Westbrook. It was Sanchezs first appearance since June 12 because of a shoulder injury. Skip Schumaker drove in three runs in the fourth, and Berkman had three hits and scored three times. The crowd booed loudly when Berkman, the longtime Astros star, scored in the seventh. The Astros jumped on Westbrook for seven hits and five runs in 2 1-3 innings to take the early lead. Enerio Del Rosario (0-3) yielded two hits and three runs for the loss. Brian Bogusevic singled to start the Astros fifth before consecutive walks loaded the bases. Bogusevic scored when Jimmy Paredes grounded into a double play, giving Houston a 6-5 lead. David Freese walked to start the big fourth inning by St. Louis. Berkman singled with one out, and the runners advanced on a wild pitch by Henry Sosa. Craig then walked before Molina singled in a run and Schumaker cleared the bases with a double to centre, chasing Sosa. David Carpenter came in and allowed Jon Jays tying sacrifice fly later in the inning. The Astros scored four times in the third. Brett Wallace had a two-run single and Paredes added a two-run triple that rolled up on the corner of Tals Hill in centre field. Bogusevic was disappointed that Houston let its early advantage slip away. "Its not over in the third or fourth inning, and we knew there was still a lot of baseball yet to be played," he said. "We tried to add on and hold them off, but it didnt work today." Cardinals star Albert Pujols got hit on the right elbow by a ball that glanced off his bat for a foul in the seventh. He writhed in pain for a minute before trainers came and checked on him. He continued his at-bat after a short delay, flew out to left field and played the rest of the game. NOTES: Holliday returned to the Cardinals on Saturday after missing nine games with a tendon injury on his right middle finger. La Russa said he wouldnt start on Wednesday. ... Cardinals SS Rafael Furcal, who left Mondays game in the fifth inning with tightness in his left hamstring, was held out. La Russa said Furcal would not return for Wednesdays game, but he wasnt sure about his availability if the Cardinals play past that game. ... Houston closer Mark Melancon and his wife Mary Catherine had a girl named Brooklyn Marie on Tuesday. ... Chris Carpenter pitches for the Cardinals against Brett Myers in the regular-season finale on Wednesday. Myers has won four straight games and has a 1.24 ERA in his last five starts. Carpenter is 7-5 in his career against the Astros, but hasnt won in Houston since 2005. cheap jerseys nfl . While its certainly true Luongo would look kindly on a return to South Florida, and Canucks GM Mike Gillis most certainly knows that, its far too early in the process to suggest he wont go here or there, with here or there obviously including the Toronto Maple Leafs. wholesale nfl jerseys . Following Clevelands 20-14 win over the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, a Browns spokesman said the game was Holmgrens last with the team. http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesal... . Armstrong has joined the Grizzlies on their current road trip and will begin practising and conditioning with the team immediately. [url=http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesale.com/]cheap nfl jerseys china . Robede has played in 12 games over the past two seasons for the Stampeders. He was originally drafted first overall in the 2005 CFL Canadian Draft. jerseys from china . 3, 2012. The selection was made by a committee comprised of members of Football Reporters of Canada (FRC). Kennedy, a third-year business administration student from Windsor, was honoured on offence following one of the best season debuts in recent memory.BRISBANE, Australia -- Queensland scored three tries in the last 20 minutes of the first half to overcome an early 8-0 deficit and beat New South Wales 21-20 for its seventh consecutive series win in State of Origin rugby league on Wednesday. The Blues levelled the third and deciding match 20-20 with six minutes left on Todd Carneys conversion from an extremely wide angle. But Cooper Cronks 40-meter drop goal provided the winning margin a minute later before 52,000 spectators at Lang Park. Queensland defeated the Blues 18-10 in the series opener on May 23 in Melbourne before New South Wales won the second match 16-12 on June 13 in Sydney. Late first-half tries by Johnathan Thurston and Justin Hodges gave Queensland a 16-8 lead after an explosive first half. The opening 40 minutes was littered with flare-ups, the first just two mminutes into the clash -- New South Wales captain Paul Gallen was penalized for punching Queensland winger Brent Tate after every player on the field rushed into a brawl.dddddddddddd Winger Brett Morris put New South Wales ahead 8-0 with a converted try in the 13th minute after Carney kicked a penalty goal five minutes earlier. Queensland came back to score in the left corner through winger Darius Boyd, who scored his third try of the series and helped Queensland hit the lead in the 32nd minute after Thurston handled three times and converted his own try to lead 10-8. Hodges scored three minutes later and Thurstons conversion made it 16-8 at halftime. "We thought our ball control was pretty good," said Queensland captain Cameron Smith. "They got the first points, but we got there in the end." 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