LOS ANGELES — When Puigs fly … so do the Dodgers.
This was the night the Dodgers had to come alive in the NLCS. They were down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series and facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Their best hitter, Hanley Ramirez, was playing with a painful hairline fracture of the eighth rib and had to wear a special protective shirt shipped over from the USC football team.
And Yasiel Puig, who has been so vital to all things Dodgers, was hitless in the series with six strikeouts.
But the Dodgers and Puig came alive in the fourth inning. The Dodgers scored two runs in the inning, the first time they had scored since the third inning of Game 1, with Puig lining an RBI triple. Ramirez (two hits) added an RBI bloop single in the eighth as the Dodgers came away with the 3-0 victory.
The Cardinals lead the series 2-1, but the Dodgers, Puig and Ramirez are alive.
You know this loss got to the Cardinals because Wainwright called Adrian Gonzalez’s second base celebration in that fourth inning after knocking in the first run “Mickey Mouse stuff.’’
Wainwright admitted he didn’t see Puig’s wild celebration at third.
Mickey Mouse and the Dodgers live in SoCal.
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Noted Gonzalez: “I did what I always do. We are in L.A., so Mickey Mouse stuff does go. You know, Mickey Mouse is only an hour away, so it fits us.’’
The Dodgers and Puig are not about to apologize for their antics.
“We’re in the playoffs, playoffs, playoffs,’’ Puig said, explaining the excitement that he shows. “In Cuba you always see a lot of emotion on the field. The people in Cuba are born to play baseball and that’s what you see on the field.’’
Dodgers president Stan Kasten said: “Puig energizes the lineup when he’s playing like he plays. He energizes the fans, he energizes people at home and we’re perfectly happy with him playing like he plays.’’
The Cardinals now find themselves in a similar situation as last October, when they took a 3-1 lead against the Giants. The San Francisco pitchers then shut down the Cardinals offense the rest of the way. In those last three games, the Cardinals scored one run.
The Dodgers thought going into this game Puig would have a major impact, and he did as the middle of the Dodgers order made noise in that fourth inning.
Mark Ellis led off the inning with a fly ball to right-center. Jon Jay and right fielder Carlos Beltran converged on the ball, but Jay gave way although it was his ball all away and Ellis had a gift double.
Ramirez’s fly ball to right moved Ellis along to third. Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring double to right to put the Dodgers on top, 1-0 and offered a “Let’s go!’’ exclamation point at second base.
After a ground out by Andre Either, Puig came to the plate with two outs.
He had been 0-for-11 for the series with seven strikeouts, but Puig laced a drive to deep right. He thought the ball was out of the ballpark and flipped his bat and admired his hit. The drive hit the base of the wall, so Puig had to turn on the jets. He still wound up with a stand-up triple, clapping wildly as he came into third base.
Gonzalez skipped home and the Dodgers were up 2-0.
Puig celebrated a home run and then raced to third standing up for a triple.
That’s entertainment. That’s Puig.
Puig hit .360 at home this season. Dodger Stadium is his party and the sellout crowd of 53,940 loves the Wild Horse show.
And just like that, we have a series again.
Besides ability, Puig brings so much energy to the Dodgers and their fans.
He is the perfect player for this city, Hollywood all the way.
When Puigs fly, so do the Dodgers.