San Francisco, CA (My Sportsbook) - The St. Louis Cardinals will try to even things up and keep their World Series hopes alive when they play Game 4 of the things up and keep their World Series hopes alive when they play Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants tonight at Pac Bell Park.

Standing in St. Louis' way is San Francisco righthander Livan Hernandez, who is 6-0 in the postseason for his career.

After losing the first two games of the best-of-seven set at home, the Cardinals stormed back with a critical win in Game 3 on Saturday. Eli Marrero homered in the sixth inning to snap a tie and the Cardinals held on for a 5-4 victory. Mike Matheny and Jim Edmonds also homered in the ugly victory.

Edmonds also drove in a run in the second inning, as did Edgar Renteria with a sacrifice fly.

Cardinals starter Chuck Finley (1-0) threw five innings to earn his first career postseason victory. The lefthander was charged with four runs on seven hits. He struck out one and walked three.

"If you go down 3-0, it would be really tough to come back," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "With a win, we made it a competitive series. But they're still in charge."

Barry Bonds hit a three-run homer for the Giants in the losing effort.

With the Giants trailing 4-1, Bonds tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with one swing of the bat. Rich Aurilia walked to start the frame and Jeff Kent followed with a single before Bonds hit Finley's 1-0 pitch over the left-field seats and into McCovey Cove.

"It changes the mood in the dugout," Bonds said of his homer. "It gets everybody fired up. But then they came back and took the lead."

"From where I was I thought it was a pretty good pitch and he hits it into the bay," La Russa added. "That shows how incredible Bonds is."

Marrero quickly put St. Louis back on top, 5-4, with a homer to left leading off the sixth inning off Giants reliever Jay Witasick (0-1).

"We knew we had to turn it around in a hurry," Matheny said after the game.

Dave Veres, Steve Kline and Rick White combined to throw three scoreless innings for the Cardinals. Jason Isringhausen struck out two while throwing a scoreless ninth for the save. Isringhausen walked Bonds with one out after striking out Kent to start the frame, then struck out Benito Santiago before getting Reggie Sanders to fly out to end the game.

San Francisco had plenty of chances in this game, but left 11 men on base.

Bonds, who had just one postseason home run in his career coming into this season, hit his fourth homer of the 2002 post-season.

St. Louis first baseman Tino Martinez was 0-for-4 on Saturday and is mired in a 1-for-22 slump this postseason.

Andy Benes makes his second start of the 2002 postseason tonight. He helped the Cardinals sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NLDS on October 5, when he allowed three runs on two hits (both home runs) over 4 2/3 innings in the 6-3 victory. The righthander is 1-1 in his five career LCS outings, and tonight will mark his fifth career LCS start.

Benes last started in the NLCS in 2000, when he allowed two runs on six hits over eight innings in a victory over the New York Mets.

The veteran righthander has seven career postseason starts under his belt.

After starting the season with an 0-2 record and a 10.80 earned run average in his first three outings, Benes considered retirement and was eventually placed on the 60-day disabled list with a sore knee.

Upon his return, he found his groove and was perhaps the team's best starter over the final two months of the regular season. In his last 12 starts, Benes went 5-1 with a 1.56 earned run average and allowed more than a pair of earned runs only once. On the road, Benes went 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 10 outings (nine starts).

Benes is 14-11 versus the Giants over his career. He faced San Francisco once in the '02 regular season and suffered a loss after surrendering two runs -- one earned -- on four hits over 4 2/3 innings in a 6-4 loss at Pac Bell Park.

Hernandez is 6-0 lifetime in the postseason, including 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA in the NLCS. While a member of the Florida Marlins in 1997, the Cuban righthander went 2-0 in the NL Championship Series and 2-0 in the World Series to garner MVP honors.

He last pitched in Game 4 of the NLDS against Atlanta last Sunday and allowed three runs on eight hits over 8 1/3 innings in an 8-3 win at home.

While his postseason record is spotless, the 27-year-old hurler was just 12-16 with a 4.38 ERA during the 2002 regular season. At home this season, Hernandez went 7-9 with a 3.99 earned run average and three complete games in 18 attempts.

For his career, he is 3-4 against the Cardinals. He faced St. Louis twice in the regular season, going 0-0 with a 3.68 ERA. He last started against the Cards on July 22 and yielded three runs on 10 hits over 7 1/3 innings.

With a victory tonight, Hernandez will win his first seven playoff decisions -- something only two other pitcher have done. Orel Hershiser (7-0) and Orlando Hernandez (9-0) are the only other pitchers to win their first seven or more playoff decisions.

San Francisco went 50-31 at home in the regular season, while the Cardinals were 45-36 on the road. The Giants split a pair of home contests against Atlanta in the NLDS, while St. Louis won both of its road tilts versus Arizona.

The Cardinals won the regular season series between these two teams by a 4-2 margin. St. Louis has won four of the last five meetings this season at Pac Bell Park, including Saturday's win.