SAN DIEGO — Uh-oh.

Jake Peavy and 43,107 fans were hushed by one swing of Albert Pujols' bat, which was enough to re-energize the St. Louis Cardinals and leave the San Diego Padres frustrated in October, as usual.

Pujols hit a two-run home run to launch the Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Padres in the opening game of the division series on Tuesday.

"It was a cutter that was right down the middle. Yeah, those go wrong a lot," Peavy said.

"What an at-bat," St. Louis leadoff hitter David Eckstein said. "Being able to foul off pitches, take some pitches and then do what he did, that ignited the whole club."

So much for the home-field advantage the Padres were enjoying for the first time in a best-of-five division series. And so much for any notion that the Cardinals were going to continue to struggle like they did in barely avoiding one of the great September collapses of all time.

Everything went well for the Cardinals, from the second chance Pujols got when catcher Mike Piazza couldn't catch his foul ball to having ace Chris Carpenter fresh for the playoff opener, the result of manager Tony La Russa's gamble in keeping him out of Sunday's regular-season finale.

On Monday, Peavy and manager Bruce Bochy talked about letting the situation dictate whether they pitched to Pujols, or put him on.

"I don't think about if they're going to pitch to me because I want to be aggressive," said Pujols, whose shot broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. "If I start thinking a lot of things like that, that's going to take my aggression away. I just take whatever they give me, you know. And if they give me a good pitch today, I'm going to try to put my best swing and hopefully help my team out to win."

Peavy left a full-count cut fastball over the plate and Pujols drove it an estimated 422 feet into the Padres' bullpen beyond the fence in left-center.

The three-time NL Central champion Cardinals have won seven straight postseason games against the Padres, including division series sweeps last year and in 1996.

Game 2 is Thursday afternoon, when 43-year-old San Diego native David Wells is scheduled to start for the Padres against Jeff Weaver.

Athletics 3, Twins 2

At Minneapolis, Barry Zito was a little bit better than Johan Santana.

The Minnesota Twins have made rallying a routine this season, so they weren't exactly fretting after a loss at home in the first game of their first-round playoff series.

But Zito, Frank Thomas and the rest of the Oakland Athletics were bursting with confidence themselves after proving it was indeed possible to beat Santana at the Metrodome.

Zito kept Minnesota off balance with his big curveball, Thomas hit two huge home runs and A's beat the Twins and their ace Tuesday.

"I think the odds are stacked against us a little more here, but Frank coming through with the homers — it was huge," said Zito, who gave up four hits, three walks and one run. "And that's all I can ask for out of the offense with Santana, so luckily we made it work today."

Santana, who was 16-0 over a span of 23 regular-season starts in which the Twins won every time since Aug. 1, 2005, led the league in ERA, strikeouts and innings this year, and tied for the AL high in wins.

"It takes more than one guy to win a game, that's for sure," Santana said. "It doesn't matter how good you're going to pitch, because if you're not going to hit you're not going to win."

Minnesota rookie Boof Bonser will start against Esteban Loaiza in Game 2 this afternoon. A season-ending elbow injury to All-Star Francisco Liriano and right-hander Brad Radke's shaky shoulder have left the rotation looking a little thin.

Yankees 8, Tigers 4

At New York, Derek Jeter circled the bases, having homered to put an exclamation point on another historic night in the Bronx, when he became just the sixth player to get five hits in a postseason game and propelled the Yankees to victory in their playoff opener against Detroit.

These are his Yankees, and this is his era.

"We've been in this position a lot," the captain said after New York's victory Tuesday night. "We've been in a lot of postseason games. So you can't be afraid to fail. I mean, you always have to think positive. You know, you're not always going to come through. There's been plenty of times that I haven't. But when I'm in that situation, I feel as though I'm going to produce, or if I come up with a hit or make a play."

In the Yankees' modern-day Murderers' Row, Jeter stands out.

He went 5-for-5 with two doubles and the home run. He raised his record for postseason hits to 147. With 48 postseason RBI, Jeter tied Reggie Jackson and Manny Ramirez for third, trailing only Bernie Williams (80) and David Justice (63).

Bobby Abreu had a two-run double and Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer in the third as New York's big boppers staked Chien-Ming Wang to a 5-0 lead. The five-run burst started, however, with something small — Johnny Damon's slow roller for a single. Jeter followed with a double that put Nate Robertson in big trouble six outs into his postseason debut.

"He's played in so many playoff games, it's just another game to him," Giambi said,

After the Tigers crawled within two runs, Abreu added a two-run single in the sixth and Jeter hit his 17th postseason home run, an eighth-inning drive off Jamie Walker that upped his career postseason average to .315.

"That's why they've got the payroll they've got," Robertson said. "They bring players in there to do what they did tonight. They fight off tough pitches and even do some damage to pitches that other guys can't do damage on."