Cards, Giants to battle for NLCS
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THE St Louis Cardinals will take on the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series after both came up with winning runs in the seventh inning, both won 3-2 and both clinched 3-1 series victories on Tuesday.
St Louis edged the Los Angeles Dodgers while the Giants overcame Washington. Now the two teams that have split the past four NLCS between them will face off for a spot in the World Series.
San Francisco travels to St Louis for Game 1. It’s a rematch of the 2012 NLCS, when the Giants rallied from a 1-3 deficit to beat the Cardinals 4-3.
In St Louis, the key moment came in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Cardinals trailing 0-2. Matt Adams got hold of a Clayton Kershaw pitch and blasted it into the bullpen beyond right field for a three-run homer that put the hosts ahead for good.
The bottom of the seventh also proved decisive in San Francisco, where the Giants had loaded the bases when Nationals pitcher Aaron Barrett threw a wild pitch, allowing the go-ahead run.
Washington’s season ended with a third-straight one-run defeat to the Giants; the worst of which was an agonizing defeat in an 18-inning Game 2.
The likelihood of Adams hitting a game-winning homer off Kershaw seemed remote, given that the Dodgers ace had only allowed one homer to left-handed hitters all season while posting a remarkable regular-season record of 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA.
However, Kershaw’s developed an unfortunate habit of saving his worst for playoff games. He has a 0-3 record with a 9.72 ERA in his past three postseason appearances, including St Louis’ clinching Game 6 win over the Dodgers in the NLCS last year.
Kershaw pitched on three days’ rest for the second time in his career. He was dominant into the seventh, as he was in Game 1, but again started the inning with three straight hits; the third of which was Adams' homer. Adams thrust his hands over his head in the batter’s box then jumped several times as he ran down the first base line.
A stunned Kershaw bent over on the mound, head hung and hands on his knees. “The season ended and I was a big part of the reason why,” he said. “I can’t really put it into words, Just bad deja vu all over again.”
Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal allowed two Dodgers runners in the ninth inning before retiring Carl Crawford on a game-ending groundout.
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