St. Louis ? Albert Pujols made sure the St. Louis Cardinals got off to another fast start.

Pujols homered in the first inning of the NL Championship series Wednesday night, just as he did in the first round. Although he had a quiet night otherwise, he set the tone for the Cardinals’ 10-7 victory over the Houston Astros.

“He’s been big for us all season,” pitcher Woody Williams said. “And when they don’t pitch to him, the other guys do it.”

The slugger emerged as the Cardinals’ most worthy MVP candidate for his season-long consistency, and hasn’t slowed down in the playoffs.

After St. Louis fell behind 2-0 in the first, Pujols — the NL MVP runner-up behind Barry Bonds the last two seasons — followed Larry Walker’s triple with a tying shot into the Cardinals bullpen in right field.

“Right away you’re thinking ‘OK, they have two runs but let’s get realistic, we haven’t even made one of our 27 outs yet,'” Walker said. “Unless it’s a crazy lead, it’s not insurmountable for us to come back.”

It was Pujols’ third hit against Astros starter Brandon Backe in six at-bats, all of them homers.

“I can’t explain,” Pujols said. “I just try to do the same thing that I did all year long, just make sure I get a good pitch to hit.

“Sometimes you’re going to have some good success against a guy like that and sometimes you’re going to struggle, like I do with a lot of guys in the National League.”

Pujols provided the punch again for the NL’s top offensive team just as he did in Game 1 of the division series against Los Angeles when he connected off Odalis Perez. When it was time to eliminate the Dodgers, Pujols’ power produced a three-run homer that broke open Game 4.

Pujols’ eighth-inning single against Houston made him 7-for-18 in the postseason with three homers and seven RBIs.

St. Louis' Jim Edmonds (15), Larry Walker, left center, and Tony Womack, right center, celebrate with teammates after the Cardinals won Game 1 of the NL championship series. The Cardinals defeated Houston, 10-7, Wednesday night in St. Louis.

That’s just an extension of the regular season when he batted .331 with 46 homers and 123 RBIs and became the third player in major-league history to drive in 500 runs in his first four seasons — joining Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.

The Cardinals also received big contributions from Walker, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. St. Louis rallied from another two-run deficit by scoring twice in the fifth. A six-run sixth inning put the Cardinals comfortably in front.

“I wouldn’t oversimplify it but nothing shakes them up,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “If we get ahead, we play nine. If we fall behind, we play nine. We do it every day.”

Walker, thriving in his first postseason appearance in nine years, tripled, doubled and singled. He scored three times and drove in a run. Needing a homer in the eighth to become the first player in major league history to hit for the cycle in the postseason, Walker struck out.

“Did you tell by how hard I swung?” Walker said with a laugh. “I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Rolen had been in a 3-for-32 slump since returning from a strained calf that forced him out of 16 games, before his game-tying single in the fifth. He also walked and scored ahead of Edmonds’ three-run double that capped the sixth.

Edmonds was 1-for-29 to end the regular season, taking the final day off to preserve a .301 average. He was 4-for-15 in the division series with a homer, two RBIs and nine strikeouts.

“I know Jimmy for sure can carry the whole ballclub when he’s right and he’s playing with confidence,” Williams said. “With Scott, I’m sure it’s a big load off his shoulders getting that first hit, and it came at a great time.”