HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Carlos Beltran is driving up the price by driving out the ball.

Beltran set a postseason record by homering for the fifth consecutive game, snapping a seventh-inning tie with a solo shot as the Houston Astros posted a 6-5 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals and evened the National League Championship Series at two games apiece.

Already guaranteed to be among the most sought after free agents in the offseason, Beltran is using a superb postseason to position himself even more favorably.

Just 27 and among the most multi-dimensional players in the game, Beltran is making the most of his first postseason opportunity - batting .486 with 11 of his 18 hits going for extra bases. He also scored 19 runs and driven in 14 in Houston's nine playoff games.

After Houston erased an early 3-0 deficit and rallied from 5-3 down in the sixth with a pair of runs, Julian Tavarez (0-1) was brought in to face Beltran to start the seventh. Already 1-for-2 with two runs scored in the contest, Beltran golfed a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall.

"He's a guy that has a real good sinker, real good slider and also has a split," Beltran said. "I just told myself 'just relax, stay back and put the ball in play.' That is what I did."

"I was trying to get a ground ball by Beltran," Tavarez said. "I got the ball down, and he hit it out. I wanted to get the ball down and away. If it was away, it would have been a wild pitch, but it was in there, and he hit it out."

Beltran's eighth homer of the postseason tied the all-time record, set by San Francisco's Barry Bonds in 2002.

"It feels great just to be able to do something that Barry Bonds did," Beltran said. "At the same time, I'm just going out there to do my job. I'm not thinking about hitting home runs."

"You mean, Superman? You can't say enough about what he's accomplished on a stage like this," Astros left fielder Craig Biggio replied when asked about Beltran. "There's nothing that he does that surprises us. He's one of the top five players in baseball right now. His best quality is he's a good person."

Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell also was at a loss of words when talking about Beltran.

"I shake my head at what he's done," Bagwell said. "It's amazing. He's gone far beyond any expectations of hot."

After Dan Wheeler (1-0) worked an impressive seventh inning, Astros manager Phil Garner turned to closer Brad Lidge . Looking for a two-inning save for the second time in as many days, Lidge worked around a one-out walk in the ninth - surviving a fly ball to the warning track by Albert Pujols .

" Dan Wheeler did a fantastic job," said Lidge, who has three saves this postseason. "He has been pitching awesome and not getting the credit for it. He did an awesome job in the seventh. He got the win and really deserved it."

The win was the 21st in Houston's last 22 home games.

"The team has been unbelievable here since I've been in league, and especially this year," St. Louis center fielder Jim Edmonds said. "We just have to go out there and play hard, and hopefully, we can win two before they win two."

Game Five is Monday with the Astros looking to move ahead in the series behind Brandon Backe . The Cardinals counter with Woody Williams , who beat Houston in Game One.

"Everybody in this locker room knows we are capable of controlling what we do," St. Louis reliever Ray King said. "Just like today, we should have won, but we didn't. We got beat in situations where we normally don't, but tomorrow we are going to come out with Woody on the hill. Our goal is to salvage one win out of this series here, get back on the plane, take Tuesday off, and hopefully, clinch in front of our fans."

Neither Game Four starter was effective as St. Louis' Jason Marquis allowed three runs and five hits in four innings.

Houston's Roy Oswalt - the only 20-game winner in the National League - was tagged for five runs and eight hits in six innings.

"I tried to make a conscious effort to get the ball down and I couldn't get it down," Oswalt said. "At first, I thought I wasn't striding far enough. Then I tried shortening my stride and that wasn't working either. I was trying to find a happy medium."

"I felt great," Marquis said. "I was making pitches. Like I said, I made a mistake that cost us a run, but after that, I settled down and made my pitches. I thought I could have gone a little longer than I did."

The Cardinals broke on top quickly as Larry Walker walked with one out and Pujols hit his fifth homer of the postseason. John Mabry added an RBI single later in the inning for a 3-0 lead.

Beltran walked in the bottom of the first and scored on Bagwell's double.

The Cardinals tacked on a run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Edmonds but Lance Berkman delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the inning that got the Astros within 4-3.

Pujols had a two-out RBI single in the fourth but Berkman opened the sixth with a homer to left and Jose Vizcaino doubled with two outs. Instead of walking Raul Chavez and facing Oswalt, La Russa pitched to the Houston catcher, who knotted the game with a bloop single to center field.

Wheeler allowed a leadoff single to Pujols in the seventh and Chavez had a passed ball. But Wheeler retired Scott Rolen , Edmonds and Edgar Renteria in order to preserve the tie.

"I was just thinking about keeping the ball down, make my pitches and keep them in the ballpark," Wheeler said. "I threw fastballs to Rolen and a change to get Edmonds."