St. Louis @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 12, 2013 ) LA Dodgers 0, St. Louis 1

The St. Louis Cardinals withstood a Cy Young Award-winning 1-2 punch and can take a commanding lead when the National League Championship Series shifts to Los Angeles for Monday's Game 3 against the Dodgers. The Cardinals held serve at home behind young right-handers Joe Kelly and Michael Wacha, and now have ace Adam Wainwright lined up for the first of three straight games - if necessary - in LA. Wainwright tied for the NL lead in wins and owns a 4-0 career postseason mark.

The Dodgers received a pair of gems from their top two pitchers, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, yet came away empty as they scored only two runs in Games 1 and 2. "With those two starts, you feel like you should walk out of there with no worse than a split," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. Los Angeles sends rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu out against Wainwright while hoping for good news on the medical front for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who sat out Game 2 due to bruised ribs.

TV: 8:07 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-8, 3.00)

Ryu became the first Korean-born player to start a postseason game, but it was not a memorable outing as he lasted only three innings and allowed four runs on six hits against Atlanta in the NL Division Series. Ryu lost three of four starts in September, although he allowed a total of eight runs and received only five runs of support. He was outstanding in beating the Cardinals on Aug. 8. permitting one run on five hits and striking out seven in seven innings.

Wainwright continued to cement his legacy as the ultimate big-game pitcher by beating Pittsburgh twice in the NLDS, including a complete-game effort in the winner-take-all Game 5. He allowed one run on three hits over seven innings in the series opener versus the Pirates and is 6-0 over his last seven starts. Wainwright gave up three runs and seven hits at home in a loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 5 to fall to 4-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 13 appearances (10 starts) against them.

WALK-OFFS

1, The last team to rebound from an 0-2 deficit in the NLCS was the 1985 Cardinals, who accomplished it against the Dodgers.

2. Los Angeles is scoreless in the last 19 innings and needs the bat of Ramirez, who hit .500 with one homer, six RBIs and an NLDS record-tying six extra-base hits versus Atlanta.

3. St. Louis has a team batting average of .134 in the NLCS, the lowest in major-league history for any team that won the first two games of a postseason series.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Dodgers 3