Larry Walker once again put St. Louis on the board with a bang, launching a solo home run into the balcony area above left centerfield in the first inning. However, RF-L Walker's solo homer was the only ground RHP Roger Clemens ceded to the Cardinals in the first.

Houston responded by swinging their own bats. LF-R Craig Biggio led off the bottom of the inning by hitting a ground ball sharply down the left field line for a single. After CF-S Carlos Beltran walked, 1B-R Jeff Bagwell hit into a third-first double play, dampening the Astros chances of scoring. Nevertheless, RF-S Lance Berkman tied the game with a line drive single into center that drove in Beltran. 2B-R Jeff Kent then shot a ball into the left field stands to put Houston up 3-1.

When CF-L Jim Edmonds led off the second with a home run into St. Louis' left field bullpen, the game looked like it might become a slugfest, but it was a little over two hours later before another run crossed the plate. The Astros loaded the bases in the third but failed to score. Although RHP Jeff Suppan was perfect from the fourth through the sixth innings and had only thrown 92 pitches, the Cardinals pinch hit for him in the top of the seventh despite having no one on base with two outs. Clemens allowed only four hits and two walks while striking out seven before Houston pinch-hit for him in the seventh. He had a pitch-count of 116. The Astros went straight from Clemens to closer RHP Brad Lidge, who continued the line of zeros on the scoreboard.

Leading off the bottom of the eighth, Beltran knocked a shot off the wall between the balconies in left center, increasing Houston's lead to 4-2. RHP Dan Haren, who relieved Suppan, remained in to retire Bagwell before St. Louis brought in LHP Ray King to face Berkman. Berkman slung a solo shot to the top of one of the arches in left field. King remained in to strike out Kent and then was relieved by RHP Cal Eldred, who walked 3B-R Morgan Ensberg but escaped the inning without allowing the Astros to score again.

In the top of the ninth, Lidge made the Houston crowd a little nervous walking Edmonds and plunking left-handed pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson in the foot. However, he came up with three strikeouts to close out the 5-2 win for the Astros.

New York jumped out to an early lead in Game 3 of the ALCS. SS-R Derek Jeter led off the first with a walk and then scored when 3B-R Alex Rodriguez knocked a line drive into right field for a double. Later LF-L Hideki Matsui dropped a fly ball into the far right corner of the right field bullpens for a two-run homer. In the bottom of the first, LF-R Manny Ramirez beat out a ground ball hit down the third base line for a single. DH-L David Ortiz then hit a ground ball into right field for a single, and Ramirez tried to take third but was called out even though his foot appeared to reach the base before ARod applied the tag to his upper right thigh as he slid into third.

C-S Jason Varitek led off the bottom of the second with a walk, and RF-L Trot Nixon put Boston on the board with a two-run homer hit into the first few rows of seats down the right field line. 3B-S Bill Mueller almost sent a ball to the same spot, but his fell just inside the wall for a double. CF-L Johnny Damon hit a ground ball past a diving 1B-L John Olerud, and as 2B-R Miguel Cairo attempted to back-up Olerud, Cairo overran the ball, letting it dribble into right field. By the time Cairo circled around and retrieved the ball, Mueller was almost to home plate, but Cairo attempted a throw anyway, allowing Damon to take second. On the first pitch of 2B-S Mark Bellhorn's at-bat, Damon advanced to third on a wild pitch. RHP Kevin Brown issued a walk to Bellhorn while RHP Javier Vazquez began warming in the Yankees' pen. Ramirez then hit a grounder directly to Jeter, who was eaten up by the ball and fell down retrieving it before making a weak toss to second, where he was too late to get Bellhorn. Damon scored on the play, giving Boston a 4-3 lead.

Leading off the third, ARod sent a ball soaring over the Green Monster and out of the park to tie the game at 4. RHP Bronson Arroyo issued a walk to RF-R Gary Sheffield, and Matsui moved him to third with a line drive double down the right field line. At that point, Manager Terry Francona chose to remove Arroyo in favor of RHP Ramiro Mendoza. Considering the Red Sox's offense was active and the game was merely tied, I do not understand why he did not stick with his starter longer. After the change, CF-S Bernie Williams dropped a fly ball into center for a single, scoring Sheffield and moving Matsui to third. During C-S Jorge Posada's at-bat, Mendoza stepped off the mound and then threw to home plate, incurring a balk call despite Francona's extended attempts to persuade the umpires to alter their decision. The balk advanced both runners a base, moving Williams to second and driving in Matsui to make the score 6-4 Yankees.

Unwilling to wait for Brown to work himself into another jam, New York surprisingly replaced Brown with Vazquez prior to the bottom of the third. After Vazquez gave up a lead off single to Varitek, 1B-R Kevin Millar hit a double off the Green Monster with Varitek beating Matsui's throw to third. Mueller then walked to load the bases for SS-R Orlando Cabrera, who hit a long fly ball to right center beyond the grasp of Sheffield. Williams retrieved the ball and relayed to Cairo, who threw out Mueller at the plate after Varitek and Millar scored. Cabrera took advantage of the throw to advance from second to third, but he remained stranded there when the inning ended, so the game was tied at 6 going into the fourth.

Mendoza returned to the mound for the fourth, but Boston immediately pulled him when he plunked Cairo on the elbow with his first pitch. RHP Curt Leskanic relieved Mendoza and retired Jeter before walking ARod. Sheffield then launched a ball into the seats above the Green Monster for a three-run homer. Matsui followed with a line drive double down the left field line, inspiring the Red Sox to make another pitching change. New reliever RHP Tim Wakefield retired Williams, intentionally walked Posada, and gave up a triple to DH-S Ruben Sierra, which pushed another two runs across the plate for the Yankees. In the bottom of the inning, Ramirez worked Vazquez for a 13-pitch walk and Ortiz singled. However, Varitek hit a line drive to Olerud, allowing the first baseman to complete an unassisted double play by tagging out Ortiz as the DH attempted to return to first. That ended the inning with New York up 9-6.

In the top of the fifth, Jeter walked and then scored when ARod hit a line drive into right center for a double. Sheffield smacked a line drive into left center for a double that scored ARod. With the Yankees leading 11-6, Vazquez pitched a perfect fifth. Wakefield went one-two-three through New York's lineup in the sixth, but Boston could not score in the bottom of the inning. Switch-hitter Tony Clark replaced Olerud in the field in the bottom of the sixth after Olerud injured himself making the final out of the top of the inning. The head of Olerud's bat bounced up and hit the bottom of his left foot as he exited the batter's box on his way to first in an unsuccessful attempt to beat out a ground ball hit to short, evidently causing sufficient pain to warrant his removal from the game.

With runners on first and third and Matsui due up, the Red Sox sent LHP Alan Embree to relieve Wakefield two outs into the top of the seventh. Matsui hit a ground ball into right center for a single that allowed ARod to score from third and moved Sheffield from first to third. Williams then dispatched a fly ball to the warning track in straightaway center, where Damon failed to make the catch. Both Sheffield and Matsui scored on the double. Posada followed with a double off the Green Monster, which pushed across Williams and made the score 17-6 Yankees.

Boston made an effort to narrow the gap in the bottom of the seventh. With Ortiz on base after a lead off single, Varitek sent a two-run shot over the wall in center. Given the Red Sox's offensive capabilities, making up eleven runs in three innings wasn't outside the realm of possibilities. New York left Vazquez in to retire Nixon and then replaced him with RHP Paul Quantrill, who gave up singles to Mueller and Cabrera but closed out the inning without allowing Boston to score again.

LHP Mike Myers took over for Embree and kept the Yankees off the board in the eighth, but Quantrill went one-two-three through the Red Sox's order, preserving New York's nine-run lead.

Sheffield led off the ninth with a single and scored when Matsui hit his second two-run homer of the game. This one fell just inside the far left corner of the bullpen area in right field, putting the Yankees up 19-8. Nixon managed a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning, but RHP Tom Gordon did not give Boston sufficient room rally. While the 19-8 score alone might seem to indicate a crushing defeat, the Red Sox did not appear out of this game until they failed to score in the bottom of the eighth. Boston will attempt to avoid a sweep tomorrow.