LOS ANGELES — There goes the notion the Dodgers only have two starting pitchers they can trust this postseason.
Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are studs for sure, but Monday night, Hyun-Jin Ryu joined the conversation with the performance of his baseball life.
The rookie left-hander dominated the Cardinals for seven innings — just the latest stellar performance by a starting pitcher in this NL Championship Series — resuscitating the Dodgers’ postseason plans.
They’re alive again after a 3-0 victory in Game 3 of the NLCS, before 53,940 at Chavez Ravine.
Ryu, who bombed in his start against the Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS, allowed only three hits over seven shutout innings to out-gun Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.
“All I was thinking about was the fact we were down [two games] and I told myself this could potentially be the last start I pitched here this year,” Ryu said. “I just zoned in and fortunately was able to get a good result out of the game.”
The Dodgers, down 2-1 in the series, will look to even the NLCS on Tuesday, with Ricky Nolasco scheduled to face the Cardinals’ Lance Lynn. It would be the first start this postseason for Nolasco, who was bumped from the rotation in the NLDS so the Dodgers could pitch Kershaw on short rest. Lynn was the winning pitcher in Game 1 of this series, when he fired two innings of shutout relief in the Cardinals’
3-2 victory in 13 innings. The Cardinals won the following game 1-0.
“They beat Kershaw and Greinke, so for us to do the same to their guy, it’s huge,” Adrian Gonzalez said. “Today was pretty much a must-win game for us, and we were able to get it done.”
Hanley Ramirez, diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his eighth rib on the left side, returned to the lineup after missing Game 2 and finished 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the eighth. The shortstop was questionable to start, but convinced team brass during pregame drills he could play through the injury.
Kenley Jansen fired a perfect ninth after Brian Wilson got the Dodgers through the eighth, striking out Matt Carpenter to leave a runner on base.
Wainwright lasted seven innings and surrendered two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. It was a third straight start for Wainwright this postseason in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer.
Ryu didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, when David Freese and Matt Adams singled in succession. But Freese left the game with right calf tightness and pinch-runner Daniel Descalso was doubled off second base on Jon Jay’s routine fly to left.
After 22 consecutive scoreless innings for the Dodgers, Gonzalez delivered an RBI double in the fourth to end the drought. The sellout crowd erupted as Gonzalez dumped a ball into right field, allowing Mark Ellis to easily score from second.
But the Dodgers weren’t finished. Yasiel Puig snapped an 0-for-11 in the series with a shot off the right-field fence that went for an RBI triple. Puig stood watching his ball, believing it would clear the fence, and then took off like a locomotive and barreled into third base.
“I noticed in St. Louis I was trying too hard — something my teammates and I talked about,” Puig said. “Coming here, I focused on staying calm and doing the best I could, especially against such a great pitcher that they have.”
The rally started on a miscommunication between Jay and Carlos Beltran as they converged on Ellis’ fly ball to begin the inning. The ball dropped between them, allowing Ellis to reach second.
“We just had a lot of balls in the air tonight that hit the ground that normally don’t,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “We’re a better club than this.”