Catcher Mike Matheny hit a pair of two-run singles to lead the Cardinals to an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He's the first Cardinals player to total four RBI in a division series game.

St. Louis will try to finish off Los Angeles Saturday night when it sends Matt Morris to the mound against Jose Lima.

Rafael Furcal hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning as the Braves beat the Houston Astros 4-2 at Atlanta's Turner Field to tie that series at one game apiece.

Furcal hit a two-out pitch from Astros reliever Dan Miceli over the right-field fence. It was the first postseason homer for 26-year-old Furcal, who will begin serving a 21-day jail sentence after the Braves finish their season following his second arrest on a drunken driving charge.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play," Furcal, a shortstop who hit 14 homers this season, said. "I wanted to make a good swing and he made a mistake and threw something low and inside."

Furcal, who has only 45 homers in his five-year career with Atlanta, finished 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Game 3 of the best-of-five series will be played Saturday in Houston, where the Astros have won a franchise-record 18 straight games. Atlanta's John Thomson will oppose Houston's Brandon Backe.

Both American League series resume today, with the New York Yankees visiting the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox hosting the Anaheim Angels. The Yankees and Twins are tied at a game apiece, while the Red Sox have a 2-0 series lead.

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