ST. LOUIS -- With Chad Qualls needing a day of rest, and the remainder of the relievers not named Brad Lidge already in and out of the game, the 11th inning on Wednesday was solely up to Mike Gallo.

It was his job to keep the game tied at 3, but a So Taguchi bases-loaded single up the middle ended that bid, lifting the Cardinals to a 4-3 win over the Astros before 43,534 at Busch Stadium.

The loss capped a rough 10-game road trip for the Astros, who limp home with a 3-7 record after visiting three cities.

Houston fell to 9-18 on the road this season. It's not exactly the 2-21 road mark from a year ago, but it's nothing to write home about, either.

"This was a tough, tough trip," manager Phil Garner said. "I'm glad to get it over with and go home."

Qualls was the only reliever unavailable in this game. The right-hander had appeared in four out of the previous five games, and he hinted following Monday's loss that his right arm was tired. That left six relievers on hand to absorb the remaining innings after starter Taylor Buchholz came out after five.

Lidge was set to enter the game if and when the Astros pulled ahead. The Cardinals made sure that never happened, loading the bases against Gallo prior to Taguchi's game-winning hit.

"It was going to be his two or three innings until we got a lead," Garner said of Gallo. "It wasn't a tough decision. It was an easy decision. It was Gallo's inning. He has to get us through."

Trouble brewed from the start. Yadier Molina doubled off Gallo with one out in the 11th, and Aaron Miles followed with a hard liner to Morgan Ensberg, who tumbled as he fielded the ball but had no play at first.

With runners on first and second, Hector Luna sent a searing line drive right to Ensberg for the second out, but Gallo hit David Eckstein on the left hand, loading the bases.

Taguchi sent a line drive right back toward Gallo, who threw his glove over his head in an effort to snare the ball. At first glance, it looked like it nearly hit Gallo in the face.

"I thought I could have caught that ball," the left-hander said. "It just was right at me. I'd like to go back and look at a tape of it, because I should have had that ball.

"It wasn't even hit that hard. I saw it coming at me and I tried to snag it. I think I barely missed it."

Although Taguchi's hit put the final nail in the coffin, Gallo targeted the Eckstein at-bat for his demise.

"I was going in on him," Gallo said. "He's an aggressive hitter. It looked like I hit him on his hand, so he wasn't getting out of the way in that situation. I had two strikes, I was ahead in the count. I wanted to make an aggressive pitch. Unfortunately, he's on the plate a little bit and I hit him."

The road trip as a whole was taxing on the entire team, but it was especially hard on the bullpen. The Astros played three extra-inning games, including an 18-inning marathon in Pittsburgh during which the 'pen was forced to absorb 11 2/3 innings.

"We're a little tattered," Garner said. "We had to give Qualls [the game] off. [Dan] Wheeler's been used a lot. We're not exactly in horrible shape. That's why you carry 12 [pitchers]. You use them. That's what we did."

The loss evened the Astros' record at 27-27. Since starting the year 19-9, Houston is 8-18 over its last 26 games.

Wednesday's defeat put a damper on what was a good day for the Houston organization, which lured Roger Clemens out of yet another retirement and inked him to a one-year pro-rated contract.

"It's a shame we ended up losing this game," said Andy Pettitte, Clemens' closest friend on the team. "It's an exciting day for the organization and it's been an absolute nightmare road trip for us. A lot of heartbreak losses on this road trip. Guys have been battling so hard. It's a shame we couldn't pull this one out."