ST. LOUIS - All in all, it was a good day for Cardinals reliever Julian Tavarez.
First St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and general manager Walt Jocketty stood up for him in a pregame argument with Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson.
Then Tavarez, with two broken fingers on his left (nonpitching) hand, threw two perfect innings and got the victory in Wednesday's 6-4 12-inning win over the Astros at Busch Stadium.
"The win tonight and a good outing puts everything clean," Tavarez said.
La Russa and Jocketty confronted Watson behind the batting cage after being informed Tavarez was fined $10,000 for buzzing a pitch over Jeff Bagwell's head in the seventh inning of Game 4.
That happened one batter after Tavarez gave up the winning home run to Carlos Beltran and before a frustrated Tavarez punched a phone in the dugout and broke his fingers.
"I don't even want to talk about that," Tavarez said. "My dad always told me, if the past is bad, leave it in the past."
Watson told the Associated Press the fine was similar to the one given last season to Boston's Pedro Martinez after he threw over the head of New York's Karim Garcia.
"When Pedro Martinez pays his fines, I'm going to pay mine," Tavarez said with heavy sarcasm.
There was no sarcasm from La Russa, just anger. He and Tavarez have said the ball-four pitch to Bagwell was unintentional.
"This guy didn't even get warned," La Russa said. "He didn't get ejected, did he? They think it was intent, he would have been banged out of the game."
The argument with Watson, who played 13-plus years with the Astros, was animated and included finger-pointing.
"So when a ball is thrown in that area, gets away, $10,000 from now on?" La Russa said. "They're going to go back and nail guys? That is so ridiculous."
Tavarez, who said he took a pain shot and "some pills" before the game, struck out two and got Beltran and Bagwell on popups on two pitches to start the 12th.
"He's unbelievable," Jocketty said. "I think what you saw the other night was a show of frustration. Tonight he showed his emotion of jubilation. He's a very reactive guy. He cares what happens to this team."
TV RATINGS: Television viewership of Game 5 in the St. Louis area clobbered Monday's game between the Bucs and Rams. Nielsen Media Research reported the baseball game was watched by 37.3 percent of homes while 22.6 percent watched football. It was the lowest-rated Rams game in St. Louis since 1999.
ODDS AND ENDS: The Astros' 13 home runs tied the LCS record set last season by the Cubs. Their 24 home runs are three behind the playoff record of the 2002 Giants. ... Beltran hit two balls so hard, and Cardinals rightfielder Larry Walker played them so well off the wall, Beltran was held to two singles. ... Beltran's two runs gave him a playoff record 20, two more than Barry Bonds' 2002 mark. ... Houston's Brandon Backe, who the Devil Rays converted from utility player to pitcher in 2001, pinch hit in the 12th and struck out. ... St. Louis' Reggie Sanders, who entered the game hitting .071, had three hits. ... Cardinals second baseman Tony Womack left after the third with lower back spasms and was replaced by Hector Luna.
