Cards power past Dodgers to fourth straight NLCS

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw crouched in despair as the ball, and his team’s postseason hopes, sailed into the St. Louis bullpen behind the right-center field wall.

Adams’ three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday erased a 2-0 deficit as the Cardinals eliminated Los Angeles from the National League Division Series with a 3-2 decision at sold-out Busch Stadium.

Right after the ball cleared the fence for the biggest homer of his career, Adams jumped twice for joy.

“Some people are calling it the big city leap,” joked Adams, referring to his nickname. “Maybe we’ll be able to patent it.”

St. Louis, which won the best-of-five NLDS three games to one, will meet the winner of the San Francisco-Washington series in its fourth straight National League Championship Series appearance, starting Saturday night. The Giants held a 2-1 series lead over the Nationals going into Game 4 Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers head home for another offseason of what-ifs, courtesy of the Cardinals. They knocked out Los Angeles 4-2 in last year’s NLCS, handing Kershaw losses in Game 2 and Game 6.

Pitching on three days rest after giving up six runs in the seventh inning of a 10-9 Game 1 loss Friday, Kershaw dominated the first six innings. He allowed only one hit, a single by right fielder Randal Grichuk in the fourth, and fanned nine.

But this seventh inning blew up on him in a hurry. Left fielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Jhonny Peralta, as they did Friday, led off with singles.

After swinging through a 93 mph fastball, Adams pounced on a hanging curve for his first homer off a left-hander since July 7 and his first homer of any kind since Sept. 8.

“He’s a great pitcher,” Adams said when asked if he felt Kershaw was vulnerable. “I was just looking for a pitch in the strike zone that I could drive. Saw it pop up out of his hand and knew it was going to be a good one to swing at.”

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had right-hander Pedro Baez warming up to face catcher Yadier Molina, regardless of the result against Adams. Mattingly said Kershaw felt good going into the seventh, even with his pitch count at 94.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be a 20, 25-pitch inning,” Mattingly said. “We knew it was going to be three hitters.”

Reliever Marco Gonzales pitched a scoreless seventh for his second win of the series. Closer Trevor Rosenthal earned his third save, inducing a game-ending fielder’s choice from left fielder Carl Crawford with runners at 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. But he lost his fourth straight postseason start to the Cardinals, allowing 19 runs in the process.

“It shows that our team never gives up,” Miller said. “Kershaw is the guy that’s probably going to win MVP and Cy Young. To do it against LA, a tough team, and a really tough pitcher in this fashion is pretty fun to watch.”

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.