LOS ANGELES: St Louis hammered Los Angeles star pitcher Clayton Kershaw yesterday, rallying for a 10-9 triumph over the Dodgers in the first game of their Major League Baseball play-off series.
Matt Carpenter’s four runs-batted-in included a three-run double in an eight-run seventh inning for the Cardinals, who then held on for the victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Across the country in Washington, the San Francisco Giants edged the Nationals 3-2 to open their NL Division Series.
The winners of the two series will meet for the National League title and a World Series berth.
It was expected to be a pitchers’ duel in Los Angeles, where Cy Young Award candidate Kershaw and Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright faced off.
Instead, a tense game that saw both benches empty after Wainwright hit Yasiel Puig with a pitch in the third inning turned into a slugfest.
And once again, the Cardinals got the better of Kershaw.
After giving up a one-out homer in the first inning to Randal Grichuk, Kershaw retired 16 successive batters before Carpenter smacked a two-out homer in the sixth.
Wainwright had blinked first, surrendering six runs in four and one-third innings as the Dodgers took a 6-1 lead before Carpenter’s blast trimmed the deficit -- and proved a harbinger of what was to come.
The first four Cardinals batters in the seventh hit singles to start a flood that finally chased Kershaw from the game -- but not before he gave up five more runs.
Kershaw became the first major league pitcher to surrender seven runs in two straight post-season starts.
He gave up seven last year in the Dodgers’ loss to the Cardinals in the deciding sixth game of the NL Championship Series.
“I feel terrible,” he said. “It’s an awful feeling to let your team-mates down.
“They were playing great, got a bunch of runs for me, and I couldn’t hold it.”
The Dodgers twice brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning against Cardinals closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal.
They added one run, but left the potential tying run stranded at third when Puig struck out swinging to end the game.
In Washington, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Joe Panik each drove in a run for the Giants.
San Francisco starter Jake Peavy picked up his first career post-season victory, scattering two hits in five and two-thirds scoreless innings.
Nationals ace hurler Stephen Strasburg gave up two runs in his post-season debut on eight singles in five-plus innings for NL East division champions Washington.
The Giants opened the scoring in the third inning when Travis Ishikawa singled, advanced to second on Peavy’s bunt, took third on a passed ball by Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos and scored on Panik’s single up the middle.AFP
