Beltran Lifts Cardinals Past Dodgers in a Taut Game 1

ST. LOUIS - The voices of the Cardinals fans at Busch Stadium had turned raspy, harsh and a little desperate by the eighth inning Friday night. St. Louis had not managed much against the Los Angeles Dodgers ' starter, Zack Greinke, an old antagonist, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and the score remained tied going into the ninth.

The night dragged on, with the Dodgers failing to deliver runners from scoring position in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings. The game sat there for the Cardinals to take until they finally did, in the 13th. Carlos Beltran, whose double in the third accounted for the only two runs Greinke allowed in his eight innings, singled to right to drive in Daniel Descalso from second, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 victory.

The game was the third-longest in an N.L.C.S., behind Game 6 of the 1986 series (a 7-6 Mets victory over Houston in 16 innings) and Game 5 in 1999 (a 4-3 Mets victory over Atlanta in 15 innings). Still, most of the announced crowd of 46,691 was still there late Friday night to see Beltran continue his marvelous postseason.

Beltran's three runs batted in increased his total to nine in six games. And he also contributed a strong throw in the 10th, after calling off center fielder Jon Jay, to cut down Mark Ellis at the plate and prevent what would have been the go-ahead run.

'One of the best postseason performances I've ever seen,' St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said.

The Dodgers finished 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. They played the last five innings without Adrian Gonzalez, their 100-R.B.I. first baseman, who walked leading off the eighth inning but was taken out for pinch-runner Dee Gordon. Gordon was quickly forced out at second on a Yasiel Puig grounder.

'You get a guy on in that inning, and you have to take a shot at scoring that run,' Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said.

Six Cardinals relievers combined for seven scoreless innings while permitting three hits.

Each team squandered late chances to win. The Dodgers right-hander Brian Wilson, the bearded ex-San Francisco Giant, who has never allowed an earned run in 14 postseason appearances, struggled a bit in the ninth, walking Matt Adams and Yadier Molina with two outs before getting Jay to fly out on a full count.

Molina, the Cardinals' catcher, helped preserve the tie score after Michael Young hit a fly ball in the top of the 10th, holding onto Beltran's one-hop throw and tagging out Ellis. Molina, his mask still in place after the tag, pumped his first three times.

'I felt like I was going to have a better angle than Jon Jay,' Beltran said. 'I called it five, six times. I saw Yadi crouch, waiting for the ball, and I thought we had a chance.'

The Cardinals were familiar with Greinke - who was 8-1 in his last 10 regular-season appearances against them - and not just for his pitching.

Two years ago, while Greinke was with Milwaukee, he criticized St. Louis's Chris Carpenter before the teams met in the N.L.C.S. He said a lot of the Brewers disliked Carpenter and suggested Carpenter's steely, stare-down presence was phony. Greinke won Game 1 but lost Game 5 as the Cardinals advanced to the World Series.

On Friday, Greinke started out strongly, disposing of the first six Cardinals in order. He struck out 10 in eight innings and faltered only in the third.

'Outside of those three batters, that was probably the best game I've ever caught from him,' Dodgers catcher A. J. Ellis said.

In the top of the third inning, Matheny made a bold choice, bringing in the infield with one out and a man on third. But Cardinals starter Joe Kelly walked Hanley Ramirez and then walked Gonzalez on four pitches to load the bases.

Kelly threw home for a force play on a comebacker from Puig for the second out. Juan Uribe followed with a single past Kelly, the ball hit so hard on the ground that the second-base umpire, Mike Everitt, had to dance out of the way. That put the Dodgers ahead, 2-0.

The lead lasted half an inning.

Greinke struck out the first two batters in the third before Kelly grounded a single to left. Matt Carpenter, who was 1 for 20 this postseason, walked, and Beltran tied the game with a double off the wall in right center. Andre Ethier, trying for a circus catch at the wall, leapt for the ball but missed.

The hit put Beltran at 33 R.B.I. in the postseason for his career, well behind the record of 80, set by the former Yankee Bernie Williams. But Beltran ranks eighth in postseason homers, with 16; he is one ahead of Babe Ruth and one behind Jim Thome.

'He's a great player,' Matheny said of Beltran before the game. 'Start throwing him in categories with Babe Ruth, that's kind of uncharted territory. But what he's been able to do, his stats speak for themselves.'

INSIDE PITCH

ANDRE ETHIER returned to center field for the Dodgers for the first time since injuring his left ankle Sept. 13. He told reporters he still felt a little pain running during workouts Wednesday in Los Angeles and Thursday at Busch Stadium, but not enough to prevent him from playing. Ethier had been limited to pinch-hitting during the division series against Atlanta. ... DON MATTINGLY confirmed that the Dodgers left-hander HYUN-JIN RYU would start Game 3 and RICKY NOLASCO Game 4 in Los Angeles. Mattingly bypassed Nolasco in Game 4 of the division series against Atlanta to start the team's ace, Clayton Kershaw, on three days' rest. The Cardinals had already announced that ADAM WAINWRIGHT would start Game 3, and Mike Matheny had said that either SHELBY MILLER or LANCE LYNN, who pitched two innings in relief for the win Friday, would pitch in Game 4. ... Mattingly also chose to go with only one left-hander, J. P. HOWELL, in the bullpen, leaving PACO RODRIGUEZ and CHRIS CAPUANO off the Dodgers' roster.