PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Kyle Lohse couldn't beat Roy Halladay twice in two weeks.

Unhittable for a few innings, Lohse later struggled and the St. Louis Cardinals blew an early lead against Halladay, losing 11-6 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night in the opener of their NL division series.

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Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer off Halladay in the first, a lead that stood until Ryan Howard connected off Lohse in a five-run sixth.

Now the wild-card Cardinals turn to ace Chris Carpenter, who will pitch on three days' rest for the first time in his career in Game 2 Sunday night against Cliff Lee.

``Well, it's not good to be down 0-1, but when you're the visiting team the goal is to try to win one of the two games here and then go back home and see what happens,' Berkman said.

Lohse tossed 7 1-3 strong innings in a 4-3 win over Halladay at Philadelphia on Sept. 19, helping the Cardinals inch closer to a postseason berth they eventually secured on the last day of the regular season.

The righty retired the first 10 batters he faced in this one, but it was downhill from there.

``Lohse pitched pretty well,' Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols said. ``You take that inning out of the way... he makes Howard have a great at-bat, and they just battled and put something together. I think Lohse, if you look at it, made two mistakes all day and they took advantage of it.'

It's not the first time Lohse has failed in the postseason in this ballpark. Pitching for the Phillies in the 2007 NLDS, Lohse allowed a grand slam to Colorado's Kaz Matsui in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss. The Phillies were swept by the Rockies.

``What it boiled it down to, I missed with two changeups all night and both ended up with homers,' Lohse said.

Halladay settled in nicely after Berkman's homer, and retired the last 21 batters he faced as the NL East champions began their all-or-nothing postseason run with a comeback win.

Halladay gave up three runs and three hits, striking out eight in eight innings.

Lohse allowed six runs - five earned - and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Last year, in his first career playoff start, Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history in Philadelphia's 4-0 victory over Cincinnati.

His bid for an encore in the first round didn't last one batter, and Berkman hit the first three-run homer off Halladay in three years to put the wild-card Cardinals up 3-0 in the first.

But the offense bailed out Doc.

Lohse didn't allow a runner until Chase Utley hit a double off the right-field fence in the fourth. The righty, who was 14-8 this season, was cruising until the sixth.

Down 3-1, Jimmy Rollins singled to start the inning. After Utley struck out, Hunter Pence grounded a single up the middle. That brought up Howard, who heard a lot of criticism last year for taking a called third strike with the tying run on second base to end the Phillies' season against San Francisco in the NL championship series.

Howard worked a full count before launching a towering drive into the second deck in right-center to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

The towel-waving crowd went wild, and Howard came out for a curtain call.

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said he didn't consider pulling Lohse, even though Howard was 8 for 17 with two homers off him to that point.

``Pretty tough to take him out there,' La Russa said. ``My decision was based on what I had seen. I didn't see him do anything wrong. He's a guy with a really tough arm, he got a 3-2 pitch in the middle of the plate when he was trying to pitch him tough, and he just missed and he hit it.'

Shane Victorino followed with a single. Raul Ibanez then lined a two-run homer to right to end Lohse's night.

The Cardinals scored three times in the ninth off relievers Michael Stutes and Ryan Madson, highlighted by Schumaker's two-run double.

The two teams took different roads to get here.

The Phillies cruised to their fifth straight division title, winning a franchise-record and major league-best 102 games. Anything less than a second World Series title in four years will be considered a failure by players, management and fans.

The Cardinals needed an incredible collapse by Atlanta and help from Philadelphia to earn the wild card. St. Louis trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 25, but went 23-8 the rest of the way and got in after Game 162, when the Phillies completed a three-game sweep in Atlanta.

For a while, it seemed the Phillies might regret helping the Cardinals reach the playoffs.

A day after borrowing a line from William Shakespeare, saying he ``came here to bury Caesar, not praise him,' Halladay didn't back up his words right away.

Rafael Furcal led off the game with a single and stole second. One out later, Halladay walked Pujols on four pitches. Berkman drove the next pitch off the mini-scoreboard hanging on the facing off the second deck in right field.

``He made one mistake, and I happened to be swinging when he threw it and that was it,' Berkman said. ``He threw a great ballgame.'

The switch-hitting Berkman hit all 31 of his homers in the regular season from the left side. No. 32 was the first three-run homer Halladay allowed since Aug. 21, 2008, when Hideki Matsui connected for the Yankees in a 14-3 loss to Toronto.

The Phillies will turn Berkman around the next two games with lefties Lee and Cole Hamels on the mound.

Howard hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Victorino and Ibanez each had RBI singles in the inning to pad Philadelphia's lead.

An unearned run got Philadelphia to 3-1 in the fourth. After Utley's one-out double, Pence struck out and Howard walked. Victorino hit a foul pop down the left-field line that should've ended the inning.

But third baseman David Freese tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch and the ball fell out of his glove for an error. Victorino hit an opposite-field single to left to score Utley.

A crowd of 46,480 was the 218th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park, including postseason play. The stadium resembled an apple orchard with all the red-clad fans.

NOTES: Cardinals RHP Kyle McClellan was disappointed that he was left off the roster because of a tired arm. ``McClellan is a real weapon,' manager Tony La Russa said. ``That was a very tough call, and I know he's very upset with it, and he should be. Made totally on his best interest.'... Only the New York Yankees (27) have won more World Series titles than the Cardinals (10). ... The Cardinals were 6-3 vs. the Phillies in the regular season. ... The Phillies are 15-7 in Game 1s, while the Cardinals fell to 16-19. ... The Cardinals didn't have five-time All-Star LF Matt Holliday in their starting lineup because of a hand injury. He struck out in the ninth as a pinch hitter.