ST. LOUIS (AP) ― Carlos Beltran limped to the trainer’s room, taking the St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest clutch October bat with him.

Turns out they had the perfect substitute.

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for Beltran, and the Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3 1/2-hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night for a 2-1 NL Championship Series lead.

Beltran strained his left knee running out a double-play ball in the first innings, and the Cardinals said he was day to day.

Kyle Lohse worked around a season-worst five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Mitchell Boggs struck out Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt with two on to end the seventh. Jason Motte earned the first two-inning save of his career to reward what remained of a sellout crowd of 45,850 ― perhaps a third ― that stuck around for a game that lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes, about a half-hour shorter than the delay. “They said if we didn’t score I was going to go out there. I was in the clubhouse running around, I’ve never really had to sit around like that,” Motte said. “It was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been.”

Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro had two hits and a clean game in the field, two days after Matt Holliday rammed him breaking up a double-play ball. Manager Bruce Bochy had said there would be no retaliation, and Game 3 was collision-free.

Game 4 of ALCS postponed

DETROIT (AP) ― One win from the World Series. Rainy or not, the Detroit Tigers will have to wait.

Game 4 of the AL championship series between the Tigers and New York Yankees was postponed because of a stormy forecast Wednesday night ― although Comerica Park was still dry when the decision was made.

About an hour later, however, heavy rain started to fall, soaking the tarp that was placed on the infield before the postponement.

With the Tigers seeking a sweep in the best-of-seven series, Game 4 was rescheduled for Thursday at 4:07 p.m. New York will send ace CC Sabathia to the mound against Scherzer.