Matt Adams gave the St. Louis Cardinals their first three runs of the game, and more importantly the lead, with a huge home run in the seventh inning. Clayton Kershaw had been dealing all night, until he let two batters reach base in the seventh before the beefy Cardinals first baseman made him pay for a hanging curveball.
Kershaw, who was pitching on short rest, gave up consecutive singles to Matt Holiday and Jhonny Peralta before serving up the blast to Adams. Prior to the disastrous seventh, Kershaw had only allowed one hit and struck out nine. The Cardinals lead the series 2-1, so if they can hold off the Dodgers, they'll advance to the NLCS and await the winner of Nationals-Giants. That series could also be decided tonight with a Giants win.[FS1]