LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- To say Jose Lima gave the Los Angeles Dodgers an emotional lift would be slighting one of the greatest postseason pitching performances in the history of the storied franchise.

The flamboyant righthander tossed a masterful five-hitter and Shawn Green homered twice as the Dodgers staved off elimination by beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-0, in Game Three of their National League Division Series.

While his pitching staff was hammered for 16 runs in the first two games, Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy had no problem pinning his postseason hopes on the colorful 32-year-old Lima.

In his third career Division Series appearance, Lima (1-0) dominated arguably the league's best lineup. He allowed five singles and a walk, struck out four and threw 73 of 109 pitches for strikes.

"I went after them," Lima said. "Throw strikes. Throw strikes. If they hit it, fine. If they knock me out, fine, but I just didn't want to get behind."

"When you're up there and it's strike one, strike two, it's tough," St. Louis left fielder Reggie Sanders said. "He had movement on his sinker tonight. That was the key. Lima's a guy they want to go to. He's smart. He knows how to pitch and he gets the crowd on his side. You know he's going to be tough here."

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was impressed.

"He pitched nine innings against our club and shut them out," La Russa said. "It's an outstanding pitching performance. He did what he had to, made all the pitches, didn't throw too many down the middle."

With the West Division champions on the brink of elimination, Lima showed little fear, pumping his fist and pouncing off the mound after each effective inning. When he retired Jim Edmonds on a popout, Lima thrust his hand in the air, genuflected on the mound and pointed while shouting to the crowd of 55,992.

"I don't know how much the crowd plays into his success, but it definitely does," said batterymate Brent Mayne . "They're into his act and he feeds off of them. He's had success here and they've embraced him. Maybe it's the smog or the traffic. It's crazy how much they love him."

"You don't sit here and make excuses after a guy throws a shutout against you," St. Louis right fielder Larry Walker said. "He beat us. Maybe we swung at some pitches out of the strike zone. I know I did. He got on a roll and we couldn't stop him."

The shutout was the first by a Dodger in the postseason since Orel Hershiser in Game Two of the 1988 World Series.

"From the stands, (owner) Frank McCourt was telling me to breathe in, breathe out," Lima said. "He's always telling me that. I like that. At least he's in the game."

Green hit solo homers off St. Louis starter Matt Morris (0-1) in the fourth and sixth innings and Steve Finley delivered a two-run, broken-bat double down the left field line in the third.

The win snapped Los Angeles' eight-game postseason losing streak and forces Game Four on Sunday. The Dodgers hope to draw even behind Odalis Perez , who lost Game One. The Cardinals look to advance behind Jeff Suppan , who won 16 games during the regular season.

"They obviously still have the advantage but if we can even the series tomorrow, I think it puts the pressure on them," Green said.

"Hey, it's not the first game we've lost," St. Louis second baseman Tony Womack said. "I don't know why anyone should be somber here. We'll come out tomorrow and take care of it."

Lima showed what kind of night he was destined for in the opening inning, retiring Albert Pujols and striking out Scott Rolen with a runner in scoring position.

The Dodgers gave him some room for error in the third, taking advantage of some good fortune. Alex Cora was hit by a pitch and Brent Mayne singled up the middle. Lima then reached on a controversial botched bunt - replays showed he may have hit the ball twice with his bat.

Morris retired the next two batters and was on the verge of escaping the jam when Finley broke his bat and sliced an opposite-field double down the left field line, scoring Cora and Mayne. Finley had been 0-for-9 in the series.

"Finley's hit, it's one of those that's frustrating," Morris said. "I was ahead in the count, pieces of the bat were everywhere. It's just real frustrating. I almost battled through it."

"Morris made some good pitches to get out of the jam there," Finley said. "He threw a cutter that kind of backed up a bit but I still got enough on the label to break my bat. I just had good placement on it."

Green opened the fourth with his second homer of the series and gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinals strung together two singles in the fifth but La Russa opted to let Morris hit and he grounded weakly to third.

Green hit another homer in the sixth and became the first Dodger to hit two home runs in the same postseason game since Eric Karros on October 4, 1995. Seeing his first playoff action, no position player in the major leagues had played as many games without a postseason appearance as Green.

The Dodgers bullpen began to stir in the seventh but Lima cruised, never allowing more than one runner to reach in seventh or eighth. With the crowd on its feet in the ninth, Lima got St. Louis in order.