Atlanta, GA -- Carlos Beltran smacked a pair of solo homers and drove in five runs, Jeff Bagwell added a two-run blast and the Houston Astros advanced in the postseason for the first time ever with a 12-3 rout of the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the National League Division Series.

The Astros, who just this summer were all but counted out of the playoff race, banged out 17 hits and will now meet St. Louis in the NLCS starting Wednesday night.

"I don't know if it was a burden," Houston manager Phil Garner said of winning a playoff series, "but it's just something you want to deliver to the fans."

Houston again needed its bullpen when starter Roy Oswalt was lifted after five innings, one day after Roger Clemens pitched five frames in the Astros' 6-5 loss in Game 4.

Pitching on three days' rest, Oswalt (1-0) gave up two runs and seven hits while battling a high pitch count. He struck out four in the win, but walked three and reached 100 pitches during Atlanta's two-run fourth.

Craig Biggio was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in the win. He and Bagwell were playing with the weight of former teammate Ken Caminiti's death on their shoulders, this after the former NL MVP passed away Sunday at age 41.

"It's awful news," Bagwell said before the game. "All this stuff...it's a great game that's brought us all together. But it goes beyond that."

"I had a tough night last night, I'm not going to lie about it," Biggio added after the win. "I wrote his name in my hat, and he was out there in spirit."

Braves starter Jaret Wright (0-2), the loser in Game 1, pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on six hits and a walk. He fanned one and was working through innings with fewer pitches than Oswalt, but Beltran's second homer of the game and a one-out walk in the sixth forced the Braves to use their bullpen.

Kevin Gryboski got Atlanta out of that inning, but relievers Chris Reitsma and Tom Martin were ineffective in a five-run Houston seventh, and the Astros scored three more in the eighth to put the game away.

Rafael Furcal and Johnny Estrada each stroked solo homers for the Braves, who have dropped four Division Series in five years -- including losses in three straight Game 5s.

The Astros jumped on the board first with some small ball in the second inning, pulling ahead 2-0 on an RBI ground out by Morgan Ensberg and Jose Vizcaino's sacrifice fly.

Beltran extended that lead to 3-0 in the third with his first homer of the game, a two-out solo blast into the Braves' bullpen.

Atlanta got two runs back in the fifth when Furcal and Estrada hit their second homers of the series. Furcal led off with a blast over Hank Aaron's No. 44 in right-center field, and Estrada belted a first-pitch fastball wall over the right field wall with two outs.

But Beltran silenced a suddenly-awake Turner Field crowd when he led off the top of the sixth with another home run. Three of his four homers in the series came against Wright.

Big hits by Biggio, Beltran, Bagwell and Jeff Kent in the seventh gave the Astros a commanding 9-2 lead.

Reitsma gave up an RBI base hit to Biggio, a run-scoring single to Beltran and Bagwell's second homer of the series, a two-run shot to left. Martin came on after that, surrendering a double to Lance Berkman and an RBI single to Kent.

With Mike Gallo pitching for Houston, Estrada singled home Furcal in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 9-3 game. But Chad Harville came on and needed just one pitch to get an inning-ending double play.

"It was a good game for seven innings, but we couldn't shut their offense down," Atlanta's Chipper Jones said. "That's a good team over there. They're going to give the Cardinals everything they want."

Beltran singled home two more runs during Houston's three-run eighth inning.

Game Notes:

The Braves have made the World Series five times during their 13-year division title run, but have won just once (1995)...Houston won a postseason series for the first time in its 43-year history after dropping its seven previous playoff sets...The Braves had proven to be the Astros' main nemesis over the years, winning all three playoff matchups (1997, 99, 2001)...Houston was the only team to win a season series against St. Louis this year...54,068 fans attended the game, the second-largest crowd ever at Turner Field...Beltran was 10-for-22 in the series with nine RBI...Bagwell went 7-for-22 with five RBI.