PHILADELPHIA >> Chris Carpenter tossed a three-hitter to outpitch old pal Roy Halladay in a duel for the ages and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 Friday night in the deciding Game 5 of their NL playoff series.

The wild-card Cardinals scored in the first inning when Rafael Furcal led off with a triple and Skip Schumaker followed with a double, and that was it.

The heavily favored Phillies never broke through against Carpenter. Ryan Howard grounded out to end the game and hurt his leg coming out of the batter’s box — he limped a couple of steps and then crumpled to the ground as St. Louis celebrated.
 

Maui’s Shane Victorino, Philadelphia’s center fielder, got two of the team’s three hits off Carpenter. Howard ended by going hitless in his last 14 at-bats.