Dodgers vs. Cardinals: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 MLB Playoffs

John Lackey was brought to St. Louis for this very moment—a mid-series matchup in October that felt like a must-win despite it not being an elimination game. And on Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he showed why.

The seasoned playoff veteran rose to the challenge once again in his first October appearance in Cardinal red, pitching seven marvelous innings in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. His performance, combined with a late two-run homer from Kolten Wong, propelled the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory that moved them one win away from the National League Championship Series.

Bleacher Report broke it down:

Hyun-Jin Ryu was jumped on early thanks to a Matt Carpenter solo shot in the third, but the Dodgers starter bounced back, as the home run was the only earned run he allowed in six innings of impressive action. When he gave the ball to his bullpen to start the seventh, however, Scott Elbert allowed Wong's two-run jack, which proved to be the difference in the game.

Here's a look at the line score: 

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Final
Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Cardinals	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3

The two teams will face a quick turnaround with Game 4 at Busch Stadium on Tuesday at 5:07 p.m. ET, as Clayton Kershaw gets a chance to redeem himself on three days' rest and save the Dodgers' season.

By Game 3, most rotations begin diverting from their aces—but the Cardinals and Dodgers aren't most rotations. Lackey, a wily playoff veteran, faced the South Korean who has dazzled with a 28-15 career record since entering MLB in 2013. 

Ryu came into the game having not pitched since Sept. 12 due to a nagging shoulder injury, but he made sure to stay fresh in the hopes of improving his career postseason record to 2-0.

"I'm thinking that there's very little, almost 0 percent, chance that the injury is going to come back tomorrow," he told the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez. "I threw a few bullpen sessions and I went 100 percent. I felt great in all those sessions. I don't foresee why I would feel anything tomorrow."

Dilip Vishwanat/Associated Press

No signs of injury cropped up, but the Cardinals bats were quick to try to pounce on Ryu. After Ryu gave up two singles to open the bottom of the second, Matt Adams made his way to third before Ryu closed the door.

Lackey got into an early jam as well when Dee Gordon led off the game with a single and got to third base with just one down, but he got two huge outs to keep the game scoreless.

However, that all changed with one swing to start the third inning, and who else in this series but Matt Carpenter?

Carpenter led off the third with a solo shot that sent Busch Stadium into a frenzy and made the score 1-0. It marked his third homer in three playoff games and dwarfed his season production against left-handed pitchers, as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted:

ESPN Stats & Info added that Carpenter joined elite Cardinals company with the jack:

Instead of allowing the Cardinals bats to continue finding success, Ryu became virtually untouchable in response to Carpenter's home run.

Other than Jon Jay singling and quickly being thrown out on a double play, Ryu retired every batter he faced from the fourth to sixth innings. After a resounding fifth inning in which he quickly went three-up, three-down, the Dodgers' bats seemed to notice and decided to come alive.

Yasiel Puig started things off by smoking a triple to lead off the sixth. It ended a frustrating cold streak for the youngster, as SportsCenter illustrated:

His stay at third base was certainly a bit longer than he expected after Adrian Gonzalez flied out and Matt Kemp struck out, prompting Lana Berry to implore Puig to do the unthinkable—well, maybe not for Puig:

With the Dodgers on the verge of giving up a huge chance to tie the game, Hanley Ramirez came up big with the two-out RBI double. Lackey shook it off and struck out Carl Crawford to end the inning, but not before the damage was done.

Hindsight is 20-20, but going to the pen certainly didn't pay off for Mattingly. Elbert gave up a double to Yadier Molina that opened the bottom of the seventh. Two batters later, Wong went yard for a two-run homer that made it 3-1 Cardinals.

Even though there's no telling how Ryu would've fared in the seventh, the blame finger inevitably points toward the decision to go to the pen, as Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports noted:

Wong's clutch moment also brought out the puns, starting and certainly not ending with CBS Sports' Doug Gottlieb and Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde:

"

That one was WONG GONE…sorry, had to… #Cards #Doyers #MLBPlayoffs

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) October 7, 2014"

The chances were undoubtedly there for the Dodgers throughout the contest, but the only one they could capitalize on was Puig's triple. They struggled all game with runners on scoring position, as MLB.com's Richard Justice summed up a stat that only got worse by the final:

It came back to bite the Dodgers one last time in the ninth, when they got Ramirez to third and two runners on before a flyout ended the game at 3-1.

Kemp was extremely critical of the strike zone after the game according to Hernandez:

One could argue that Monday night's game was a must-win situation for the Cardinals. With Kershaw starting in Game 4 and Zack Greinke figuring to start Game 5, winning both games against the pair of aces would have simply been too much to ask—even for the reigning NL champions. 

Of course, even with Kershaw on the mound, Dodgers fans have to be seriously worried heading into an elimination game Tuesday. As dominant as Kershaw was all season, he was shaky in Game 1 and has a 1-4 career record in the postseason.

Shelby Miller will get the ball Tuesday for the Cardinals in his 2014 playoff debut. The 23-year-old has made just three playoff appearances in his career, and all were two innings or less.