By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES(AP) -- Scoring early against St. Louis ace Chris
Carpenter gave the Los Angeles Dodgers the shot of confidence
they needed. Then their bullpen came in and closed out the
Cardinals.

Randy Wolf survived a shaky first inning before five relievers
combined to give up one run in the Dodgers' 5-3 victory on
Wednesday night in an NL playoff opener full of missed chances
for both teams.

"A lot of people believe they have one of the best bullpens in
baseball," St. Louis right fielder Ryan Ludwick said. "They kind
of shut us down. They shut the door."

Pitching in the playoffs for the first time in his 11-year
career, Wolf lasted 3 2-3 innings against Carpenter, who came in
with a career 5-1 record and 2.53 ERA in the postseason.

Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer off Carpenter in the first inning,
giving the NL West champions the lead for good.

"It was a little sinker down the middle," Kemp said. "We haven't
done too well against him, but we came tonight with the
confidence. We were trying to make him battle and got him out
pretty early and got to the bullpen."

Wolf was the Dodgers' most consistent starter this season, with
a 2.98 ERA in the second half and just one loss since Aug. 1 for
his hometown team. Against the Cardinals, the left-hander from
the San Fernando Valley allowed two runs and six hits, walked
five and struck out two.

Jeff Weaver, who relieved Wolf, got the victory, allowing one
hit in 1 1-3 innings and striking out one. Jonathan Broxton
pitched 1 1-3 innings to earn the save.

"It's huge," Weaver said about beating Carpenter, "especially at
home against a guy who can shut things down. We were able to
push a couple more runs across, and our bullpen did what it's
done all year."

The teams set a division series record by stranding a combined
30 runners. The Dodgers left 16, including 12 in scoring
position.

"We had too many chances, too many chances," said Mark DeRosa,
who left two runners on base in the third inning. "Their bullpen
came in, and inning after inning, we didn't get the big hit we
needed."

Offense was at a premium for both teams' sluggers. The Dodgers'
Manny Ramirez went 1 for 4 with double and a walk, while Albert
Pujols was 0 for 3 with two intentional walks for the NL Central
champions.

"In the playoffs, everything's different, so we're just happy
that we got the win," Ramirez said. "But remember, tomorrow's
another day, so let's see what happens. We still got two more to
go."

Game 2 is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, with Clayton Kershaw,
another playoff rookie, starting for Los Angeles against 19-game
winner Adam Wainwright. Only once this season when Carpenter and
Wainwright started back-to-back did St. Louis lose both games.

Carpenter, who was the NL's ERA leader while going 17-4 and went
2-0 against the Dodgers this season, gave up four runs and nine
hits in five innings. The right-hander walked four and struck
out three.

"I wasn't making very many good pitches and they put some bats
on the mistakes I made," Carpenter said. "I was either right
down the middle or out of the strike zone and that's not a good
way to pitch."

Carpenter went 12-1 after the All-Star break, losing once since
June 30. He allowed four runs just twice in that span.

The Cardinals reduced their deficit to 5-3 in the ninth, getting
a two-out RBI double from DeRosa. Broxton then struck out
pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel looking to end it.

Skip Schumaker's RBI double in the fourth cut the Dodgers' lead
to 3-2. After Wolf hit Matt Holliday with a pitch to load the
bases, Weaver came in.

Ludwick pulled a drive into the right-field corner that barely
landed foul. Ludwick then hit a bouncer back to Weaver, who
threw to first to end the inning.

"It's a game of inches, huh? It went my way," Weaver said. "The
second slider was a good pitch. He just kind of one-handed it
out there, and luckily it curled enough to go foul. Then Russ
came out and we just said that we have to make sure the next
pitch is chased - and if anything, he hits it off the end of the
bat."

The Dodgers made it 3-1 in the third when Andre Ethier was hit
by a pitch, moved up on a walk to Ramirez and took third on
James Loney's flyout.

Third baseman DeRosa made a diving, backhanded stop of Casey
Blake's infield hit down the line, but his throw to second
sailed into right field. In the second, DeRosa banged his right
hand into Loney while scrambling back to first base on a
lineout.

Wolf let St. Louis load the bases with no outs in the first. But
he allowed just one run on Ludwick's bloop single to center
between Kemp and Ronnie Belliard, and then Kemp put Los Angeles
ahead.

The Dodgers needed a mere three pitches to take a 2-1 lead.
Rafael Furcal led off with a single and Kemp sent Carpenter's
third pitch over the wall in right center for his first
postseason homer. Carpenter allowed a pair of two-out singles
before striking out Belliard.

"You have to go in with patience, let him throw strikes and then
make a lot of concentration and try to make something happen,"
Furcal said. "Try to make him pitch as much as you can because I
think if we're on base we've got more chance to win the game."

Furcal extended Los Angeles' lead to 4-2 in the fifth with a
sacrifice fly.

Los Angeles loaded the bases again in the sixth, and Kyle
McClellan hit Russell Martin to force in Ethier with the
Dodgers' fifth run.

NOTES: The Cardinals fell to 6-2 in division series openers
while returning to the playoffs for the first time since winning
the 2006 World Series. ... They won five of seven games against
the Dodgers this season. ... Dodgers manager Joe Torre began his
14th consecutive playoff run, tying a record for managers set by
Atlanta's Bobby Cox (1991-2005).