White Sox hit back, Cards roll on

Angels manager Scioscia was left fuming by the controversial call

The Chicago White Sox tied their series against the Los Angeles Angels with a 2-1 victory, while the St Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 5-3.

The win was the fourth straight in the play-offs for the Cardinals and they now lead the National League Championship Series 1-0.

The White Sox had a Joe Crede RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to thank for their much-needed win.

They now travel to Los Angeles for game three with the ALCS tied at 1-1.

Reggie Sanders and Chris Carpenter were the key performers for the Cards on Wednesday.

Sanders belted a two-run homer off Astros starter Andy Pettitte in the bottom of the first innings to give his side the ideal start.

The in-form Sanders now has a 10-game RBI streak dating back to the regular season.

Reggie Sanders has the hottest bat in baseball right now

The Cards added another run in the second and two more in the fifth.

St Louis starter Carpenter, meanwhile, was keeping the Houston batters quiet.

His only slip came when he gave up a two-run shot to Chris Burke in the seventh. He then dismissed the next four batters he faced before handing over to reliever Jason Isringhausen for the ninth inning.

Carpenter allowed just two runs on five hits and three walks in his eight innings. Pettitte, who is one win behind Atlanta's John Smoltz for the most in post-season history with 14, gave up five runs on eight hits with two walks.

Chicago's victory over the Angels was far less clearcut.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the game tied at 1-1, A. J. Pierzynski struck out swinging at a low pitch from Angels reliever Kelvim Escobar.

But as catcher Josh Paul threw the ball back toward the mound and the Angels headed toward their dugout, Pierzynski scurried to first base unopposed.

We didn't want to go down 0-2 going to Anaheim Joe Crede Chicago White Sox

Home plate umpire Doug Eddings ruled the ball had hit the ground before Paul caught it, which meant Pierzynski had to either be tagged or thrown out at first.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia and several players argued the call but were unable to change the decision and worse was to follow for Los Angeles.

Pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna stole second, giving Crede the chance to drive him in with his second double of the game.

"It was a weird play but we were able to capitalise on their mistakes," Crede said.

"We didn't want to go down 0-2 going to Anaheim."

Wasted chances

The White Sox nearly wasted a superb display by pitcher Mark Buehrle, who pitched all nine innings and allowed just one run on a Robb Quinlan fifth-inning homer to tie the game.

Chicago had opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when lead-off hitter Scott Podsednik smacked an easy ground ball back to pitcher Jarrod Washburn, who threw wildly over first, allowing the White Sox left fielder to reach second.

After a sacrifice by Tadahito Iguchi moved the runner to third, Jermaine Dye drove in the run with a grounder to shortstop.

Both teams wasted several other chances to win it before the dramatic finale, with the Angels leaving four men on base and the White Sox seven.