Astros 12, Braves 3

ATLANTA (AP) — The journey was long, with plenty of discouraging setbacks along the way.

The last step was easy.

The Houston Astros finally won a postseason series in their 43rd year, shaking off the burden of seven playoff losses with a 12-3 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.

The newest Killer B, Carlos Beltran, hit two more homers and had five RBIs in the deciding fifth game of the first-round NL series.

With that, Houston got to experience all the trappings of postseason success: the group hug on the pitcher's mound, the sweet taste of champagne in the clubhouse.

”We feel comfortable with our team,” said Beltran, an impending free agent acquired from Kansas City in June. ”The past is in the past. We win, we move on.”

The triumph was especially satisfying for Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, the heart of the Killer B's for more than a decade and part of the last four playoff series losses.

Three of those times, Houston's season ended with a loss to the Braves.

”We've been through a lot here, Craig and I and this organization,” Bagwell said. ”This is a big relief for us.”

Beltran homered four times in the series, breaking the Houston postseason record. In a poignant note, the mark was formerly held by Ken Caminiti, who spent 10 seasons with the Astros.

Caminiti died Sunday of an apparent heart attack at age 41 — news that hit his former teammates especially hard.

”I think I felt his spirit out there,” Biggio said.

”I know he's smiling somewhere,” Bagwell added.

The clubhouse celebration was rather muted for a team that has endured so much postseason disappointment. The Astros enjoyed soaking their owner, Drayton McLane, but didn't appear satisfied with winning one playoff series.

Next up for the wild-card Astros is a matchup against Central Division rival St. Louis in the NL championship series starting Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

After squandering a three-run lead at home in Game 4, the Astros had the series right where they wanted it.

Atlanta has lost Game 5 of the division series three years in a row — all at Turner Field. The second-largest crowd in franchise history, 54,068, saw another familiar ending.

John Smoltz hopes it won't diminish the perception of a team that was picked to finish no better than third in the NL East.

”For one night, it's a very terrible feeling,” the Atlanta closer said. ”When you break down this team, it was a really remarkable year.”

The team that proudly displays 13 straight division titles still has only one World Series to show for it. It marked the fifth straight year that the Braves' season ended at the Ted.

This one was especially dismal, equaling the worst postseason loss in franchise history.

The Astros exorcised their playoff demons, matching the Brooklyn Dodgers for most series losses before getting their first postseason victory.

The Bums won on their eighth try in the 1955 World Series.

Houston jumped ahead 3-0 on Jaret Wright, with Beltran homering in the third. The Braves had the big crowd roaring in the fifth when Rafael Furcal and Johnny Estrada hit solo homers, but Beltran hit a drive off Wright that just cleared the right-field wall leading off the sixth.

Wright also was the loser in Game 1, putting a damper on his 15-win comeback season.

The Astros finished off the Braves in the seventh, scoring five runs with two outs. Chris Reitsma gave up RBI singles to Biggio and Beltran before Bagwell launched a mammoth two-run homer into the left-field seats. Jeff Kent added an RBI single off Tom Martin for a 9-2 lead.

Roy Oswalt, pitching on three days' rest for the second time this season, made it through five innings for his first postseason win. He threw 111 pitches, the Braves helping out by stranding seven runners.

Bagwell and Biggio, who took much of the blame for Houston's past futility, silenced their critics. Biggio was 8-of-20 (.400) with a homer and four RBIs in the series. Bagwell was 7-of-22 (.318) with two homers and five RBIs.

No one was better than Beltran — 10-of-22 (.455) with eight RBIs, capped by a two-run single in the eighth.

”When I played in Kansas City, a lot of people didn't know who I was,” he said. ”But as soon as I was traded to Houston, people started realizing who I was.”

The Astros underachieved much of the season. Phil Garner took over as manager at the All-Star break, and Houston had to win 36 of its last 46 games just to get the wild card.

Not a bad formula, actually. Last year, the Florida Marlins fired their manager during the season, got into the playoffs as a second-place team and went on beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Furcal tried to spark the Braves with eight hits, two homers, five runs and three stolen bases in the series.

Of course, he had plenty of incentive, facing a 21-day jail sentence for his second DUI arrest.

The judge delayed the sentence until the day after the Braves' season ended, so Furcal reports to jail Tuesday.