LOS ANGELES — Matt Carpenter hit a go-ahead, three-run double off a wilting Clayton Kershaw in an eight-run seventh inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 10-9 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a fiery National League Division Series opener Friday.
It was 92 degrees at gametime, and things quickly got more heated during a surprising slugfest. St. Louis overcame a five-run deficit against Kershaw and held on when Trevor Rosenthal blew an 100 mph fastball past Yasiel Puig with a runner on third to end a back-and-forth game that lasted nearly four hours.
In a matchup of 20-games winners, Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright hit Puig with a pitch leading off the third, triggering a bench-clearing scrum. There was shoving and shouting, but no punches were thrown.
Wainwright succumbed first on the mound, allowing six runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings.
But Kershaw failed once again in the postseason.
The left-hander whose 1.77 ERA led the major leagues for the fourth consecutive year came in eager to erase the memory of his poor showing in Game 6 of last year’s NL Championship Series, when the Dodgers were eliminated by the Cardinals.
And Kershaw dominated through the first six innings, retiring 16 in a row between homers by Randal Grichuk and Carpenter.
But he collapsed in a shaky seventh, when he gave up five of the Cardinals’ eight runs and became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow seven runs in consecutive starts. He yielded that many in losing Game 6 last year.
Kershaw, a heavy favorite to win a third Cy Young Award in four years, fell to 1-4 with a career 5.19 ERA in the postseason.
The Dodgers rallied again in the ninth, pulling to 10-9 after Dee Gordon’s RBI groundout scored A.J. Ellis, who singled. But Puig struck out swinging against Rosenthal, who reached 100 mph on five of the seven pitches in the at-bat.
Photo via Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
