Matt Adams three-run homer sparked St. Louis to a 3-2 win over L.A. (Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports)
ST. LOUIS — Same song, second verse.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw dominated the St. Louis Cardinals for six innings in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday but found season-ending trouble in the seventh.
St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams launched a three-run homer to wipe out a 2-0 deficit, and the Cardinals reached the NL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year with a 3-2 decision at sold-out Busch Stadium. St. Louis won the best-of-five NLDS 3-1.
The Cardinals will meet the winner of the San Francisco-Washington series in the NLCS, starting Saturday night. The Giants held a 2-1 series lead over the Nationals going into Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Kershaw, who gave up six runs in the seventh inning Friday in the Cardinals’ 10-9 win in the series opener, sailed into the seventh Tuesday with a one-hit shutout and nine strikeouts.
That changed in eight pitches. Left fielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who started Friday’s big inning with singles, did the same in this game.
After swinging through a 93 mph fastball, Adams jumped on a hanging slider and lined it 386 feet into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center. While Adams leaped for joy twice before hitting first base, Kershaw crouched on the mound in despair.
Los Angeles was eliminated by St. Louis for the second year in a row, as the Cardinals topped the Dodgers in the 2013 NLCS. Kershaw lost twice in that series, including the Game 6 clincher.
Reliever Marco Gonzales pitched the seventh Tuesday to pick up his second win of the series. Closer Trevor Rosenthal worked the ninth for his third save, inducing a series-ending forceout from left fielder Carl Crawford with runners on first and second.
The Dodgers broke up a scoreless tie in the sixth with both their runs against starter Shelby Miller. Right fielder Matt Kemp’s double-play grounder scored Crawford, and third baseman Juan Uribe lined a two-out single off reliever Seth Maness, plating shortstop Hanley Ramirez.
In his first postseason start, Miller pitched 5 2/3 innings, yielding five hits and two runs. He walked three and struck out four.
Kershaw wound up allowing three runs on four hits and two walks in six-plus innings.
NOTES: Los Angeles CF Yasiel Puig didn’t start Tuesday after striking out eight times in his last nine at-bats, including seven in a row. Manager Don Mattingly put Andre Ethier in center field, saying that lineup “gives his team the best chance to win today.” Puig appeared as a ninth-inning pinch runner. … Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 26 in Arizona, worked a side session in the bullpen Monday in an attempt to stay sharp. Wacha won four postseason games last year but missed 2 1/2 months this year with a stress reaction in his shoulder. … St. Louis entered the postseason with a run differential of plus-16, the lowest among all playoff teams.
