Cardinals one win away from the NLCS!

What a NLDS it has been so far between the Cardinals and Dodgers.

While both the Orioles and Royals swept their respective opponents in the ALDS (Baltimore swept the Tigers, and Kansas City swept the Angels), the NLDS has been a lot more competitive.

Up two games to none, the Giants and Nationals clashed in another pitcher’s duel on Monday afternoon. Washington’s Doug Fister would out-duel Madison Bumgarner en route to a 4-1 Nationals win, cutting the series to 2-1.

And then, there was Game 3 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.

On the mound for the Dodgers: Hyun-jin Ryu. The 27-year old left-hander, who made just his third postseason start, hadn’t pitched to a batter in a game in over three weeks.

For the Cardinals, they turned to John Lackey. The 35-year old (he turns 36 on October 23rd), has plenty of postseason experience, and pitched in the most important game of the series thus far.

In Game 1, the Cardinals pulled off an amazing comeback. In Game 2, a close battle between pitchers, and a bad pitch by Pat Neshek led to a one-run Dodger victory. Splitting the series on the road was absolutely critical, and now, the Cardinals came into Monday night having the Dodgers right where they want them.

They had them right in them middle of Cardinal Nation.

Two of the greatest franchises in sports history clashed in front of 47,574 fans, the largest crowd in Busch Stadium III history since opening in 2006.

Lackey not only out-dueled Ryu by striking out eight in seven innings of work, but the Cardinals won in thrilling style once again, by a score of 3-1, and take a 2-1 series lead in the NLDS, win the possible clincher tomorrow.

The first inning started with a base hit by Dee Gordon, who on the very next pitch would steal second base. Lackey would then settle down, striking out Yasiel Puig, getting out Adrian Gonzalez as well as Matt Kemp, as the Dodgers stranded Gordon at third (he advanced to third after a pitch got away from Yadier Molina).

Ryu had himself a strong first as well, striking out Carpenter and Randal Grichuk. As for Matt Holliday, Ryu walked him in a very patient at-bat by Holliday. Jhonny Peralta then grounded out, with the score remaining 0-0.

In the second inning, Grichuk almost came up with an outstanding diving catch, but the ball had bounced and rolled under him, but his effort saves an extra base hit. As for Jon Jay, his effort making a catch in deep center not only saved an extra base hit, but it also saved a run. Lackey would eventually strike out Ryu to end the top of the second.

Adams and Molina lit a fire to spark the offense in the bottom half of the second. After consecutive singles, Jay struck out. Lackey couldn’t advance the runner at third (who was able to advance after a force out during the previous at-bat), and through the first two innings, the Cardinals and Dodgers were locked in at zero apiece.

Both pitchers, after facing nine batters, had thrown 38 pitches (Ryu actually threw 39).

Lackey began to pitch better with each passing inning, with a 1-2-3 inning in the third and fourth.

But it was one swing of the bat that put the momentum in the home team’s hands.

In the bottom of the third, one of the most clutch players currently on the Cardinals stepped up to the plate. Matt Carpenter took a pitch by Ryu deep for his 3rd homer of the NLDS, and 4th in his postseason career, to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead, and it earned him a curtain call from the lively crowd at Busch Stadium.

Halfway through Game 3, the Cardinals were hanging onto a 1-0 lead. Through five shutout innings, Lackey had only thrown 73 pitches, as he became the active leader in postseason innings pitched (passing CC Sabathia).

While Lackey was dealing, Ryu was pitching strong as well. The game remained close throughout the night while both starters remained in.

The sixth inning started with Puig breaking his strikeout streak, with a triple to right field. The Dodgers offense, meanwhile continued to sputter. Gonzalez popped out to shallow left, and Kemp struck out.

But Hanley Ramirez did not miss his mark. He took the first pitch thrown to him to right field, scoring Puig, and tying the game at 1-1.

Eventually, Ryu was taken out of the game, and the bullpen was brought in try and continue to shut down the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, Lackey continued to roll into the seventh inning, while Seth Maness and Randy Choate warmed up in the bullpen. He struck out A.J Ellis, who has been on a tear throughout the NLDS so far.

In the bottom of the seventh, Molina doubled, and was followed by a sacrifice bunt from Jay to advance him to third.

The Cardinals needed a spark. They needed one guy to step up to the plate, and put them ahead in Game 3.

And that one guy was Kolten Wong.

As rain poured down heavily on the fans at Busch Stadium and and across St. Louis, Wong took a pitch deep to right, and propelled the Cardinals ahead by two runs.

Neshek entered the game in the 8th, and completely shut the heart of the Dodger order down.

Trevor Rosenthal entered in the 9th inning, and drama once again began to build. With one out, two batters were on base, but by the end of the game, the score remained 3-1, as Rosenthal got the save, the Cardinals won the game to take a one game lead in the series.

Tomorrow, Clayton Kershaw will be put into the starting role once again this series, while only getting three days rest, and will square off against Shelby Miller.

One of the best pitchers in the game stands in the way between Game 5 and another trip to the NLCS.

But the Cardinals have got to Kershaw before, and will aim to do so again.

(Photo by Michael Thomas/Getty Images)