Detroit ? Scott Rolen sure gave Tony La Russa something to talk about.

Shut out in the 2004 World Series, Rolen delivered three hard hits in Game One on Saturday night.

The All-Star third baseman homered his first time up and later doubled. He also ran over Detroit third baseman Brandon Inge, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-2 victory.

“Scott came around like a freight train,” La Russa said.

Not bad for someone who doesn’t seem to be on speaking terms with his manager.

Rolen wasn’t happy with getting benched by La Russa during a game in the NL championship series, and the two stubborn personalities appeared to give each other the silent treatment.

“Mentally, I had a few distractions in the series, and it was a tough series for me,” Rolen said.

“It was good for me to kind of turn the page tonight to a new series, a new competition,” he said. “I felt like I had a little fight in me tonight. And maybe that was lacking a little bit in the first couple of games in the NLCS.”

La Russa has tried to minimize the tension by saying very little about it. The issue “about us not talking, I’m getting tired of it,” he said last week.

St. Louis' Scott Rolen, left, accepts congratulations from third-base coach Jose Oquendo after hitting a second-inning home run. The Cardinals defeated the Tigers, 7-2, in Game One of the World Series on Saturday night in Detroit.

More importantly for the Cardinals, it didn’t translate into any trouble on the field at Comerica Park. Still smarting after getting robbed by New York Mets left fielder Endy Chavez’s sensational catch in Game Seven of the NLCS, Rolen launched a solo drive into the left-field seats off Tigers rookie Justin Verlander.

That made it 1-all and certainly took a huge load off his shoulders – and a banged-up one, at that.

“It was an inside pitch, and he made a good adjustment,” Verlander said. “In the Mets series, that’s the way they were pitching him.”

Two years ago, Rolen went 0-for-15 as the Cardinals got swept by Boston in the World Series. It was a bitter disappointment for a player who had played so well for so long.

“When you have the aspiration as a little kid of playing in the World Series, throwing the ball up and hitting it, you at least sneak one hit in there in your backyard,” Rolen said then.

Rolen can afford to look to the future now.

“We’re human beings,” he said. “I know I didn’t get a hit in the last World Series. No excuses.

“But I also don’t want to be shallow to the point that I think that last postseason or last World Series has anything to do with what’s happening tonight,” he said.

The Cardinals led 5-1 in the sixth when Rolen doubled, putting runners on second and third.

Juan Encarnacion followed with a grounder that hopped up and handcuffed Inge. He made a wild throw home, and Rolen also tried to score.

As Rolen rounded third, he banged into Inge, who was standing in foul ground. Rolen tumbled onto his shoulder, got up and headed home.

Even though the return throw to the plate beat him, Rolen was ruled safe when umpire Randy Marsh called obstruction.

“It didn’t hurt,” Rolen said. “I hit my head a little bit, I think, but I don’t remember.”

In the past, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Rolen usually has come up hurt in collisions.

In Game Two of the 2002 division series, he ran into Diamondbacks shortstop Alex Cintron while running the bases and missed the rest of the postseason because of a separated left shoulder.