On Sunday afternoon, Eckstein came up with as big of a hit as there is in baseball in one of the most important games of the season.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, the 5-foot-7 All-Star shortstop crushed a walk-off grand slam off Braves reliever Chris Reitsma. The grand slam capped the Cardinals' come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves in front of 47,717 at Busch Stadium.

As Eckstein reached home plate, he was mobbed by a gang of teammates clad in white and red, who had run from the dugout to congratulate him.

"I just didn't want to get hurt," Eckstein said. "Those guys hit hard, I was just trying to duck down. They grabbed me -- Jimmy [Edmonds] grabbed me -- Albert [Pujols] grabbed me and Tony [La Russa] grabbed me and I just held on. The fans were just awesome, standing and cheering until we left the field."

These are the type of momentum-building victories meant for August.

"We're thinking [all we need is] a lousy single to tie the score and all of a sudden [a grand slam]," La Russa said. "It's hard to believe."

It's the third time in a month that Eckstein has won the game for the Cardinals with a walk-off hit. On July 22, Eckstein laid down a daring squeeze bunt to score Hector Luna in the 11th inning for a 2-1 win over the rival Cubs. He accomplished the same feat on July 6 against Arizona.

On Sunday, the Cardinals began to piece together the daring comeback in the ninth inning and Eckstein capped it with the dynamite.

It appeared the Cardinals had run out of chances to win the game. Their bats were stumped for seven innings against Atlanta starter Jorge Sosa (7-1, 2.36 ERA). The Cardinals stranded runners in scoring position in the first, second, third, fifth and sixth innings. Four of those times, the runner was in scoring position with one out or less in the inning.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter (eight innings, four hits, two runs, 10 strikeouts) issued solo home runs to Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francouer in the first and second innings, and the Cardinals didn't score until the eighth. That's when Albert Pujols launched his 31st home run of the year to chop the Braves' lead in half, 2-1.

Closer Jason Isringhausen gave up another run to the Braves in the top of the ninth, and the Cardinals were left with their Nos. 6-8 hitters to lead off the ninth.

"We were going to play nine today, and once in awhile you get a miracle like this," La Russa said.

But the Abraham Nunez, So Taguchi and Hector Luna all singled to load the bases with none out. Pinch-hitter Scott Seabol then lined out to third base.

That brought up Eckstein, who had reached base earlier on a single, a double and a walk. Eckstein roped the second walk-off grand slam of his career around the left-field foul pole. It was the first walk-off grand slam by a Cardinals player since 1987.

"When you compete hard, sometimes great things happen," La Russa said.

Eckstein's heroics overshadowed a great pitching duel between Sosa and Carpenter.

Sosa shut out the Cardinals for seven innings and Carpenter gave up just two runs in eight innings. Carpenter still leads the Major Leagues in wins and ranks fourth in strikeouts with 161, just four behind Jake Peavy of San Diego. He is second in innings pitched (171 1/3), trailing Houston's Roy Oswalt by one-third of an inning, and second in ERA (2.26). The Cardinals have won the last 10 games he has started.

"I thought he was great for eight solid innings," La Russa said.

August is often the time of year that teams build momentum for a playoff run, and the Cardinals appear to be doing just that once again. Despite having four regular starters out since July 23, the Cardinals have continually found ways to win games.

They finished the seven-game homestand 4-3, but took two out of three from the Braves (64-48). The win leaves the Braves 6 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the best record in the National League.

"Most of the time I'm thinking, 'What a way to make a living,'" La Russa said. "Right now, it's a great way to make a living."