Here We Go Again!
That was the message on the scoreboard at Busch Stadium Tuesday night after the Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 to win the division series.
The Cards, who won the National League pennant in 2013, will be competing in the championship series for the fourth straight year. They will face the San Francisco Giants in the best-of-seven series; Game One starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Busch. Adam Wainwright is scheduled to pitch for the Redbirds. The series will be a rematch of 2012, when the Giants beat the Cardinals in seven games.
Matt Adams hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning of Tuesday's Game Four to spoil a determined effort by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw who was pitching on three days' rest after being pummeled by the Cards in Game One — in the seventh inning.
The stadium was packed, with 46,906 in attendance. Fans took it in stride when the Cards fell behind 2-0 in the top of the sixth, hoping — predicting — that Kershaw would see fireworks in the seventh.
Shelby Miller pitched five strong innings before running into trouble in the sixth. He gave up five hits and two earned runs.
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Cards Win 3-1 Monday; Kershaw Will Take Mound For The Dodgers In Game Four
Monday night’s 3-1 win has the Cardinals one victory away from a return trip to the National League Championship Series to defend their 2013 title.
That could happen Tuesday at Busch Stadium when the Cards and Dodgers meet for Game Four of the National League Division Series, with St. Louis up 2-1 in the best-of-five series.
The game starts at 4:07 p.m. On the mound will be Cardinals right-hander Shelby Miller who finished the regular season 10-9 with a 3.74 ERA. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will pitch on three days' rest. Kershaw was 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA in the regular season, but took a pounding from the Cardinals in Game One.
Game Three was a team victory:
John Lackey did his part, pitching seven strong innings with eight strikeouts.
Matt Carpenter did his part, smacking a solo home run to lead off the third inning and put the Cards ahead 1-0. The third-baseman has now homered in all three games of the series.
Kolten Wong did his part, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh, with a two-run homer.
Cards relievers Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal did their part in the eighth and ninth innings, though Rosenthal gave up two worrisome hits.
And a fired-up hometown crowd did its part — loudly — even during a late-innings shower.
The Cards don’t need no stinkin’ bubble machine.
NLDS GAME FOUR: TUESDAY AT BUSCH STADIUM
GAME TIME: 4:07 p.m. Gates open two hours before the game.
PRE-GAME PEP RALLY: 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Ballpark Village; Fredbird and former Cards players will be there.
PRE-GAME CEREMONY: Starts 30 minutes before the first pitch. Former Cards third-baseman Scott Rolen will throw the ceremonial first pitch. Forty thousand fans get rally towels. The National Anthem will be performed by Tess Boyer, a St. Louis native who was a finalist on “The Voice.” A contingent of U.S. Marines will present the colors.
BROADCAST INFO: Televised on Fox Sports 1 or the MLB Network. Play-by-play by Mike Shannon and John Rooney on KMOX (1120 AM). Online: Free access to MLB's Gameday at Cardinals.com. Mobile: Download a free version of the At Bat app at MLB.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA: The Cards suggest the hashtag #PostCards.
