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Lackey, long balls lift Cards over Dodgers 3-1

Sports

October 7th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to snap a seventh-inning tie, Matt Carpenter went deep for the third straight game and John Lackey lived up to his big-game reputation as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five NL Division Series.

Facing elimination in St. Louis for the second consecutive postseason, the Dodgers will turn to ace Clayton Kershaw on short rest Tuesday night in Game 4. Shelby Miller makes his first career postseason start for the Cardinals, one win from a fourth straight trip to the NL Championship Series.

The Cardinals finished off Los Angeles in a six-game NLCS last fall, knocking out Kershaw in the fifth inning of a 9-0 blowout in the final game. Two runners reached against Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth before he earned his second save of the series — with an assist from the grounds crew on a rainy night.