ST LOUIS: The St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants booked a National League finals showdown after each team won yesterday to advance in the Major League Baseball play-offs.
Matt Adams smashed a three-run home run in the seventh inning to lift St Louis over the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2, while Joe Panik scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the seventh to give the Giants a victory over the Washington Nationals by the same score.
Both the Cardinals and Giants captured their best-of-five series three games to one to reach the best-of-seven NLC Series that opens Saturday.
It marks the fourth NL finals appearance in a row for the Cardinals, who seek their second World Series title in four seasons after having lost last year’s final to Boston.
The Giants will try to claim their third World Series crown in five campaigns after their record seventh consecutive play-off series victory. Either the Giants or Cardinals will face the Baltimore Orioles or Kansas City Royals, in World Series starting October 21.
At St Louis, Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw struck out nine, including all three St. Louis batters in the sixth inning, but he was undone in the seventh inning by a Cardinals rally.
The Dodgers scored twice in the sixth inning in a flurry that began when Crawford opened with a single, advanced to third on an Adrian Gonzalez single and scored when Matt Kemp grounded into a double play.
Hanley Ramirez was hit by a pitch and took first base, then reached second when Andre Ethier walked and scored when Juan Uribe followed with a single.REUTERS
