ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Reggie Sanders and Chris Carpenter have formed a terrific one-two punch in the postseason for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sanders belted a two-run homer and Carpenter tossed eight stellar innings as the Cardinals posted a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros to take Game One of the National League Championship Series.

In a rematch of last year's NLCS, St. Louis kept alive a dominant trend that has seen the home team win all eight games. The Cardinals opened the 2004 NLCS with a 10-7 victory and struck early Wednesday behind Sanders' scorching bat.

Sanders had 10 RBI in a three-game sweep of San Diego in the first round of the playoffs, including a division series-record six in Game One to support Carpenter (2-0), who yielded three hits in six scoreless innings of an 8-5 triumph.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday, Sanders hammered a 1-2 offering from Astros starter Andy Pettitte (1-1) well over the left field wall to make it 2-0. It gave Sanders an RBI in 10 straight games dating to the regular season.

"Hey, it's not easy, I tell you, it's not that easy at all," said Sanders, who hit .429 (12-for-28) with five homers against Houston in the regular season. "It's just trying to get a pitch that I can consistently handle and that's all that I can do."

Sanders was a career .188 hitter in 12 postseason series entering the 2005 playoffs.

"What a lift he's given us, four straight games now," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "He's been so clutch against good pitching, really good pitching. We have a long way to go, so I don't want to pat him too much."

Carpenter, who like Pettitte was absent with an injury when the teams met last year, pushed in Mark Grudzielanek with a squeeze in the second. St. Louis led the NL with 14 squeezes this year and this one gave Carpenter all he needed to improve to 5-0 against Houston this year.

"When the injury first happened (last year), I was very disappointed and very frustrated with the year that I had, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to be a part of it," Carpenter said. "Fortunately, I came in healthy this spring and we had a good year and I'm able to be part of it now and it's exciting."

A prime candidate for the NL Cy Young Award after winning 21 games during the regular season, Carpenter was hurt only by pinch hitter Chris Burke 's two-run homer in the seventh.

A 6-6 righthander, Carpenter allowed five hits and three walks while striking out three before yielding to Jason Isringhausen , who gave up a run in the ninth before nailing down his second save of the postseason.

The Cardinals' defense bailed out Carpenter in the early innings when he struggled with his control.

A single and two walks loaded the bases for the Astros with one out in the third. Lance Berkman , who doubled over center fielder Jim Edmonds in the first, followed with a hard grounder that Grudzielanek turned into an inning-ending double play.

"Obviously that play was huge to get (Berkman) to ground into that double play," said Carpenter, who got 16 ground-ball outs. "You know, I felt like I kept the ball down in the strike zone and that's why I was getting those ground balls."

In the fourth, a double by Morgan Ensberg , a groundout and a walk to Jason Lane put runners on the corners with one out for Adam Everett . Carpenter got Everett to ground to third baseman Abraham Nunez , who threw home to nip Ensberg.

Brad Ausmus followed with another groundout to Grudzielanek, the first of nine straight outs for Carpenter.

"We position our defense and our pitchers pitch to the defense," La Russa said. "When it works, it's a beautiful thing to see."

The Astros left five runners on through the first four innings.

"It seems like (La Russa) has a magic wand over there and he just knows where you're going to hit it ahead of time and he's got somebody standing in front of it," Berkman said.

Burke lifted the Astros to the LCS by ending an 18-inning marathon with a solo homer against Atlanta on Sunday. His blast Wednesday hit off the foul pole in left but Carpenter retired the final four before Isringhausen took over.

David Eckstein and Albert Pujols each had RBI singles in the fifth to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead and inflict more damage on Pettitte, who allowed more runs than he had in any start since June 14.

Houston's best pitcher down the stretch, Pettitte was hit in the right knee by a line drive during batting practice.

"I think it had a little effect on him," Garner said. "I applaud him for getting through it, but I think it probably had a little effect on him during the game and that's one reason he didn't locate as well as he has been recently."

Pettitte, who remains one win behind Atlanta's John Smoltz for the most in postseason history with 14, gave up five runs and eight hits with two walks. He struck out two and remained winless in four starts against the Cardinals in 2005.

"I just gave them too much, everything was up," Pettitte said. "I wasn't able to make quality pitches when I needed to. When I made bad pitches, they took advantage of it."

The last 12 teams to win the opener of the NLCS have advanced to the World Series.

"I think it's huge," La Russa said. "With the format 2-3-2, you let this one get away from you, and who knows what's going to happen tomorrow and then you have three at their place."

Game Two on Thursday pits the Astros' 20-game winner Roy Oswalt , whose line drive caught Pettitte in batting practice, against Mark Mulder .