ST. LOUIS — The team that hit fewer homers than any other team in the regular season, save for the one which plays four hours west of it on I-70, advanced to the National League Championship Series for the fourth straight year because of the homer.
St. Louis clouted seven homers off the Los Angeles Dodgers, accounting for 13 of its 18 runs in a 3-1 series win. Fittingly, the last one was a game-winning three-run shot by Matt Adams in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday that wiped out Clayton Kershaw’s 2-0 lead.
That Adams took Kershaw deep was fitting. Five of the Cardinals’ seven homers were by left-handed hitters off left-handed pitchers, ironic because Los Angeles started lefties in three of the four games and also utilized a pair of left-handers out of the bullpen.
“As far as how they’re taking the at-bats against lefties, I think they go through different periods of time where they’re taking better at-bats than others against left-handed pitching,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of his team.
Matt Carpenter belted homers off Kershaw, J.P. Howell and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Kolten Wong victimized Scott Elbert for the game-winner Monday night, and Adams chimed in with the series-clincher.
Odds would suggest that St. Louis should not count on the long ball in the National League Championship Series. But as they often do in October, the Cardinals tend to defy logic. So don’t be shocked if they continue to go yard.