HOUSTON – On a night when pitching suddenly took over the NL playoffs, someone was bound to get a hit. Fortunately for the Houston Astros, Jeff Kent stepped up.

After Brandon Backe and Woody Williams dueled in the greatest games of their careers – and among the best in postseason history – Kent launched a three-run homer in the ninth inning last night that lifted the Astros over St. Louis 3-0 for a 3-2 edge in the NL Championship Series.

Each team had only one hit until the final inning. But that quickly changed when Carlos Beltran opened the ninth with a single off Jason Isringhausen.

Beltran stole second with one out, prompting an intentional walk to Lance Berkman. Kent then swung, flipping his bat after he connected.

Kent tossed off his helmet as he headed home and said, “One more, one more.” One more win will put Houston in the World Series for the first time ever.

Backe, who started the season in the minors, allowed one single in eight innings and Brad Lidge worked a perfect ninth for a combined one-hitter.

Game 6 will be back in St. Louis tomorrow, with Matt Morris starting for St. Louis. Roger Clemens may pitch on three days’ rest for the Astros – manager Phil Garner had not yet decided.

Beltran’s record streak of homering in five straight postseason games ended, though he gave it a ride in his first at-bat. But he showed off all his other attributes, making two outstanding catches.

Sluggers had ruled the first four games, combining for 19 homers. Backe put a stop to the Cardinals’ fun, limiting them to Tony Womack’s two-out single in the sixth.

Williams matched him for seven innings, allowing Jeff Bagwell’s single in the first.

The Astros won for the 22nd time in their last 23 home games. And if this was going to be their last showing at Minute Maid Park, it was a great one.

While pitching dominated, Beltran provided the highlights.

The All-Star center fielder and soon-to-be-free agent made the play of the game with two outs in the seventh, racing to his right for a diving, backhanded catch to rob Edgar Renteria.

Beltran raised his glove, left fielder Craig Biggio lifted his mitt, and Backe punched the air. In the eighth, Beltran ran back and halfway up the quirky hill in dead center to haul in Reggie Sanders’s shot in front of the in-play flag pole, about 420 feet from the plate.

Backe and Williams both looked far from overpowering, mainly relying on breaking balls to get outs. Even so, they were virtually unhittable.

Backe, a former schoolboy football star in Texas and an outfielder in the Tampa Bay system, bamboozled the Cardinals from the start. He set down the first 13 batters before walking Jim Edmonds in the fifth, and did not allow a hit until Womack pulled a single past diving first baseman Bagwell.

After Larry Walker walked, Backe faced his first jam when Albert Pujols stepped to the plate. That brought pitching coach Jim Hickey to the mound, and he’d just gotten back to the dugout when Pujols popped up to end the inning.

Williams, meanwhile, quietly and efficiently went about his business. He gave up a sharp single up the middle to Bagwell in the first inning, and little else. He worked around a couple of walks, and escaped his only problem by retiring Jose Vizcaino on a grounder with two on to end the fourth.

As always, the Cardinals’ stellar defense helped out.

All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen made a diving stop and easily gunned out Bagwell from his knees, and Pujols made a diving stop and quick flip to Williams to get Beltran. In the seventh, Sanders cut over into the gap and reached up to grab Kent’s leadoff liner.

Then again, great gloves are another hallmark of the Cardinals. They have not made in error in nine playoff games this year.