Game 3 in Los Angeles felt like a must-win game for the Dodgers. Down 2-0 in the series with Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright on the mound, the deck was looking stacked against the Dodgers' favor.
Hyun-Jin Ryu threw seven scoreless innings, the Dodgers had a few timely hits, and the Cardinals outfield gave out a few big breaks in the 3-0 victory.
The Dodgers broke their scoreless inning streak at 22, in the fourth inning. The inning started on a big break with Mark Ellis reaching second base, as Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran let a blooper fall between them.
Adrian Gonzalez doubled him in on a soft liner to right field and celebrated emphatically at second base for scoring the first Dodger run since the third inning of Game 1.
Yasiel Puig, who was 0-11 with had gone done on strikes in five straight plate appearances banged a hit off the right field wall, about a foot away from a home run. Puig bat-flipped and walked out of the box thinking he had hit it out, but about half-way down the first-base line he realized it would not leave the park.
He sprinted around the bases and made it to third standing and celebrating, without even drawing a throw. He probably could have score for an inside-the-park home run had he not admired his hit out of the box, but the stand-up triple put the Dodgers up 2-0.
The two runs were all Hyun-Jin Ryu needed to get the win. He finished with seven scoreless innings, only three hits allowed, and four strikeouts.
It was quite the turn-around from Game 3 of the NLDS when he could not even get out of the third inning. He delivered just what the Dodgers needed in a situation that was pretty much do-or-die.
The Dodgers tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning. Carl Crawford singled to center fielder Jon Jay, who made another defensive blooper to put him on base.
Mark Ellis singled and Hanley Ramirez blooped a single over second base to score Crawford on a close play at home plate. It was the Dodgers third and final run of the game.
Brian Wilson came out of the bullpen in the eighth and struck out two. Kenley Jansen closed it down in the ninth, inducing a weak grounder from Yadier Molina to end the game and give the Dodgers the 3-0 victory.
The win puts the Dodgers back in the NLCS, but they are still down 2-1 in the series. Game 4 of the NLCS is on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are scheduled to throw Ricky Nolasco and the Cardinals have Lance Lynn slated to start.
