The LA Dodgers did all they could to even the NLDS series in St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon. They started arguably the best pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw. They staked Kershaw to a 2 run lead in the 6th while Kershaw was holding the Cards on a 1 hit shutout.
In 2014, while posting a 21-3 record with a 1.77 ERA, Kershaw gave up only 1 home run to a left handed hitter. In this series he gave up 2 home runs in 2 games to lefties. Matt Carpenter connected in the first game and Matt Adams jacked a 3 run blast to right field in game 3.
Kershaw is now 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in his 11 postseason appearances.
"The season ended and I was a big part of the reason why," Kershaw said. "I can't really put it into words, Just bad deja vu all over again."
Enough about the Dodgers. The Cardinals won this NLDS series 3-1. This wasn't a fluke. The Cards will be in the NLCS for the 4th consecutive year. Their 9th NLCS in 15 years. They beat Kershaw twice while holding the Dodgers to 15 runs in 4 games.
The Cardinals hit 7 home runs in this series, the most postseason home runs by a team that hit the fewest HRs in their league that year.
Box scores usually do not tell the complete story of the game but this one tells of the clutch hitting in the bottom of the 7th. The Cards had 4 hits all night. Matt Holliday and Jhonny Peralta singled to lead off the 7th for two of those.
Matt Adams hit an 0-1 curve ball into the Cardinals bullpen for the 3 run homer, Kershaw's first 3 run home run allowed since June of 2012, a span of 86 starts.
"I don't think I touched the ground the whole way around the bases," Adams said. "Definitely the highlight of my career. ... I will never, ever forget this."
Timely hitting by the Cards is evident when one sees that the Redbirds outscored the Dodgers 15-4 in the 7th through the 9th innings.
The Cardinals will face the Giants in St. Louis beginning on Saturday the 11th of October after the Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 3 games to 2 in the other NLDS Series.
