Cagey Birds: Cards rally in ninth, KO Nationals

• The defending World Series champion Cardinals rallied from a six-run deficit
• The Cardinals scored four runs in the ninth
• Kozma delivered the game-winning hit with two outs

WASHINGTON – The St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series championship last season by repeatedly defying the odds.

In a decisive fifth game, in a hostile environment with a record crowd of 45,966 on hand and despite facing a six-run deficit after three innings, the Cardinals somehow managed to pull out yet another improbable victory.

St. Louis scored four times in the ninth inning off Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen for a 9-7 comeback victory that had all the hallmarks of last season's title run.

"Every inning, it seemed like the guys got more momentum," said the Cardinals' rookie manager Mike Matheny. "Every run just meant something more. It was just something you can't describe. They didn't believe six runs was going to be enough."

Second baseman Daniel Descalso tied the game in the top of the ninth with a two-run single off the glove of Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond. Then rookie shortstop Pete Kozma -- who was called up from the minors at the end of August when starter Rafael Furcal suffered a season-ending elbow injury -- followed with another two-RBI single that put the Cardinals in front.

Kozma's line drive to right field on a 2-2 sinker from Storen was the final blow that helped the Cardinals overcome the largest deficit in major league history to win a winner-take-all game.

"We never give up," Kozma said. "I was just trying to take myself out of the moment … He gave me a couple pitches to hit. I just didn't pull the trigger on it. That last one, I finally did."

An expected battle of aces never materialized as the home team battered the Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright almost immediately. Werth ignited the home crowd with a leadoff double into the left field corner, Bryce Harper followed with an RBI triple and Ryan Zimmerman hit a scorching drive into the bleachers in right-center for an early 3-0 lead.

Coming into the game, the Nationals had hit a collective .215 with a total of only six extra-base hits in four games. But by the third inning, they doubled that total.

Harper led off the third with a booming homer to right-center. A Zimmerman double and a Michael Morse home run later, the Nationals had a commanding lead and Wainwright -- who had never before allowed more than one run in an inning in 11 postseason games -- was done for the night.

"It was absolutely at the lowest point of my career," Wainwright said in a jubilant Cardinals clubhouse. "Throughout the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, I'm sitting there (thinking) if this ends today, it'll be all because of me.

"But the team in this clubhouse has so much heart, it's ridiculous."

The six-run lead wasn't enough to keep the once-again wild Cards, who had to win an extra one-game playoff to even make it to the Division Series round, from working their late-inning magic.

"You never envision yourself getting down 6-0," said Descalso. "But we chipped away, chipped away, finally put ourselves within striking distance.

"We would have much rather won yesterday and made it easier on ourselves. But there's a lot of veteran guys on this team. When we were down 6-0, we could have rolled over."

Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez was sharp early, facing one batter over the minimum for the first three innings. But he allowed a single run in the fourth and ran into trouble in the fifth.

The Cardinals plated a run with a leadoff double from Descalso, a Kozma single and a wild pitch by Gonzalez. But Washington manager Davey Johnson chose to stick with his 20-game winner, even after he walked three more batters in the frame and allowed another run to cut the lead to 6-3. With the bases loaded and two outs, Gonzalez finally retired Yadier Molina on a fly ball to right to end the threat.

"You've got to make them earn it," Nationals manager said Davey Johnson. "Unfortunately, we didn't."

But while the Nationals relievers held St. Louis hitless and scoreless for the final three innings in Game 4, the clincher wasn't quite so easy.

They rarely are.

Descalso had another key hit – a solo home run that cut the deficit to one in the eighth. And when Washington got what appeared to be an insurance run in the bottom of the frame on Kurt Suzuki's RBI single, the home crowd was on the verge of celebrating a playoff series victory for the first time since 1933.

With a two-run lead and Storen on to pitch the ninth, the Cardinals began their final comeback with a leadoff double from Carlos Beltran.

Down to their last strike, Yadier Molina and David Freese drew back-to-back walks to set the stage for the heroics from Descalso and Kozma.

Unlike in Game 4, there was no final inning magic from the Nationals as closer Jason Motte retired the side in order to send the Cardiac Cards to the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants.

As the celebration took place in the plastic-sheeted Cardinals locker room, general manager John Mozeliak stood a few feet away wearing a smile -- and a still-dry jacket and tie.

"We just made one big step," Mozeliak noted. "As we said last year all the time, we live for another day. Now we know we're living for four more."