Hyun-Jin Ryu made his first start in nearly a month after having some left shoulder soreness and inflammation. Don Mattingly trusted Ryu would be able to work back into his routine quickly as he has done before in the past after coming off of an injury. However, Ryu was not the cause of the Dodgers loss in Game 3 of the NLDS versus the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Ryu started quickly, striking out the first two batters of the first inning. Ryu and catcher A.J. Ellis began walking off the field after a full count pitch cruised over the plate to the third batter of the first inning, but the umpire did not flinch as Matt Holiday walked to first base. A ground out followed and allowed Ryu to get out of his first inning of work unscathed.
Ryu got into and out of trouble again in the second inning after allowing two base hits to the first two batters faced, but struck out the opposing pitcher John Lackey before having to head back to the top of the lineup and stranding two runners on base. Ryu gave up a solo home run to Matt Carpenter in the third inning, marking only the second home run given up to a left handed batter all season long.
Ryu finished his night after six innings pitched, consisting of four strikeouts, five hits, and one earned run. Ryu threw 94 pitches in his first start since early September, showing he had not lost any rhythm or control.
Scott Elbert made his first postseason appearance in seventh inning against the bottom part of the Cardinals order as the rain began pouring in St. Louis. Elbert gave up a leadoff double to Yadier Molina, and a two run home run to Kolten Wong as the Dodgers fell behind 3-1. The home run off of the Dodgers bullpen marks the third time the first relief pitcher out of the pen for Los Angeles has given up a home run. Brandon League relieved Elbert to get out of the inning down 3-1.
Hanley Ramirez came into game three of the series 3-7, and led off the second inning with a single to right field. The Dodgers put the lead-off batter on base for the second inning in a row, but nothing came from it after Ryu struck out with two runners on base. An Ellis walk and Ryu sacrifice bunt put one on in scoring position for Dee Gordon in the fifth inning, but a groundout ended the threat and stranded the fourth Los Angeles base runner. Yasiel Puig struck out for the seventh time in a row before hitting a triple to break out of his slump, reaching third base with nobody out. Adrian Gonzalez flew out, marking the second time Gonzalez came up hitless with a runner on third base and less than two outs. Matt Kemp followed with a strikeout, pushing the Dodgers streak go to 0-12 with runners in scoring position. Ramirez continued his hot play and bailed out his team, hitting a rope to right field for an RBI double, tying the game at one. All five hits for the Dodgers up to the point in the sixth inning had been to opposite field.
The Dodgers came up to bat in the top of the ninth inning down two runs with one last chance. After a strikeout from Kemp, Ramirez and Crawford singled to put two batters on with one out. Juan Uribe flew out to right field, moving Ramirez to third and bringing Ellis to the plate. Ellis flew out to right field also, ending the game 3-1 in favor of the Cardinals.
The Dodgers decided before game three that Clayton Kershaw would take the mound on three days of rest. Kershaw surrendered nine runs in the close out game of the NLDS last season against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on three days of rest, looking to change that for the better on Tuesday. When asked if Kershaw watched the tape on his struggles in the seventh inning of game one, Kershaw said, “No, I never do.”
The Dodgers MVP and NL Cy Young candidate will take the ball with his team down 2-1 in the five game series. If Kershaw can get the series back to Los Angeles, Zack Greinke will get the nod in a deciding game five.