This is what Adrian Beltre envisioned when he signed with Texas in the offseason. Balls jumping off his bat in October, the Rangers making another run for the pennant.

Beltre hit three straight home runs and the defending AL champions advanced again, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 4 on Tuesday at St. Petersburg, Fla., to win their playoff matchup.

Beltre put on a power show that few players in major league history have matched, helping Texas take the best-of-five series and ending the Rays' remarkable run to the wild-card spot. The Rangers next play the Detroit Tigers-New York Yankees winner.

"From my point of view, Texas gave me the best chance to put a ring on my finger," Beltre added, "and I am just two steps away from it. Hopefully that happens."

Ian Kinsler led off the game for Texas by homering on the second pitch from rookie Jeremy Hellickson.

Then it was Beltre's turn. He came into the game in an 1-for-11 slump in this series before breaking loose.

It was maybe Beltre's best day as a pro.

“I think besides my first big league hit, this is right up there,” said the slugger, who spent last season with the Boston Red Sox. He’s back in the postseason for the first time since 2004, when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was the seventh time a player has homered three times in a postseason game — Adam Kennedy was the last to do it, for the Angels in 2002. Babe Ruth did it twice, while Reggie Jackson, George Brett and Bob Robertson also are on the list.

Beltre connected in his first three at-bats. Given a chance to tie the big league record of four homers in a game, he hit a routine flyout in the eighth against Wade Davis.

Yankees 10, Tigers 1: Curtis Granderson made two spectacular catches against his former team and A.J. Burnett came through when the Yankees needed him most, leading New York at Detroit to send their AL playoff series back to the Bronx for a decisive Game 5.

Derek Jeter rebounded from a game-ending strikeout Monday, putting the Yankees ahead to stay with a two-run double in the third inning. Granderson also had an RBI double and New York broke it open with six runs in the eighth.

Shaky all season, Burnett started only because Game 1 was suspended by rain Friday. He was in trouble in the first after loading the bases on walks but Granderson made a leaping grab of Don Kelly’s line drive in center field, preventing at least three runs.

Game 5 is Thursday night in New York. Rookie right-hander Ivan Nova, who shut down the Tigers in the opener, is expected to start against Doug Fister.

Phillies 3, Cardinals 2: Charlie Manuel guessed right, twice.

Tony La Russa, well, he wound up getting second-guessed. And on his 67th birthday.

Pinch-hitter Ben Francisco and closer Ryan Madson made their manager’s moves look smart, and visiting Philadelphia held off St. Louis for a 2-1 lead in their NL playoff series.

“To steal a game here, if worse comes to worst, we come back home and we’ve got another game with Doc (Halladay) on the mound,” Phillies slugger Ryan Howard said. “We put ourselves in a great situation.”

Francisco batted for Cole Hamels and broke open a scoreless game with a two-out, three-run homer off Jaime Garcia in the seventh inning. The Cardinals stuck with Garcia instead of opting for a pinch-hitter with two on and two outs in the sixth. Garcia struck out, then lost his pitching touch.

“Well, it didn’t work, so that’s bad managing,” La Russa said. “I’m watching him pitch and was really pleased. I thought he was the guy to continue pitching and I knew the matchups were in our favor. ... It didn’t work.”

The Phillies, favored to win it all after a franchise-record 102-win season, can finish off the wild-card Cardinals in St. Louis today (3 p.m., TBS, KVNI 1080, ESPN 700), with Roy Oswalt opposing Edwin Jackson.

Diamondbacks 8, Brewers 1: At Phoenix, Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam and tied a franchise postseason record with five RBIs, fellow Arizona rookie Josh Collmenter befuddled Milwaukee batters again and the Diamondbacks stayed alive in the NL division series with a rout of the Brewers.

Goldschmidt, who has made big hits a habit since he was called up from Double-A Mobile on Aug. 1, gave Arizona a 7-1 lead in the fifth with a two-out, opposite-field homer to right off Shaun Marcum after Miguel Montero had been intentionally walked. Montero drove in two runs with a single and double.

With an unorthodox overhand style he says comes from throwing tomahawks as a kid in the Michigan woods, Collmenter limited the Brewers to a run and two hits in seven innings. Corey Hart’s leadoff homer in the third was the only run Milwaukee has scored against the 25-year-old in 21 innings this season.

Milwaukee leads the best-of-five 2-1. Game 4 is tonight (6:30 p.m., TBS, KVNI 1080, ESPN 700) in Phoenix.