LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Holliday and pinch-hitter Shane Robinson connected for the first home runs of the NL championship series, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven playoff.

In a series starved for offense, the Cardinals scored as many runs as they did in the first three games combined, when the teams totaled nine runs.

Hitless in his previous 22 at-bats at Dodger Stadium, Holliday sent a two-run shot off Ricky Nolasco an estimated 426 feet into left field, capping a three-run third that gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Game 5 is Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, with the Cardinals one win from the World Series. Zack Greinke is set to start for the Dodgers against Joe Kelly.

Matt Carpenter had an RBI double in the third that scored David Descalso, who hit a leadoff single. Carpenter came around on Holliday’s homer after there were none in the first three games for the first time in NLCS history.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez, playing with a broken left rib, left in the middle of the sixth after striking out three times.

Cardinals third baseman David Freese came out after six innings. He left Monday’s game with a cramp in his right calf.

Carlos Martinez pitched two scoreless innings in relief of winner Lance Lynn. Trevor Rosenthal got three outs for the save.

After a leadoff single by Andre Ethier in the ninth, rookie Yasiel Puig grounded into a double play.

Robinson’s home run bounced off the top of the wall in left field on a 1-0 pitch from J.P. Howell with one out in the seventh, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.

The right-hander lost his only other start this postseason, giving up five runs over 4 1-3 innings in Game 2 of the division series against Pittsburgh.

The Dodgers were down 4-2 in the seventh when Nick Punto doubled with one out. Martinez, however, picked off Punto before throwing another pitch and then retired Carl Crawford on an inning-ending groundout.

Trailing 3-2, the Dodgers got the potential tying run on base with one out in the sixth when Puig singled up the middle to chase Lynn. Juan Uribe grounded into a double play against Seth Maness to end the inning.

The Dodgers stuck with Nolasco as their starter even though he hadn’t pitched since Sept. 29. He struggled in his last three starts in September, giving up at least five earned runs in each.

Nolasco was passed over for his scheduled assignment in Game 4 of the division series, when the Dodgers chose to use ace Clayton Kershaw on three days’ rest for the first time in his career. Kershaw pitched well and took a no-decision in a 4-3 victory over Atlanta that clinched the series.

Before this one, manager Don Mattingly had said Nolasco was being put in a difficult position after not pitching for so long. Mattingly said Kershaw and Greinke both offered to start on short rest at Dodger Stadium.

Nolasco allowed three runs and three hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Los Angeles scored twice in the fourth to cut it to 3-2. Adrian Gonzalez hit a leadoff double and scored on Puig’s single. A.J. Ellis singled to drive in Andre Ethier, who walked.

But just when it appeared the Dodgers had grabbed the momentum, pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker bounced into an inning-ending double play.

— Associated Press —

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Led by a pair of precocious rookies, the Los Angeles Dodgers got themselves right back into the NL championship series.

Hyun-Jin Ryu outpitched Adam Wainwright with seven innings of three-hit ball, and Yasiel Puig tripled home a run to help Los Angeles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Monday night in Game 3.

Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI double ended a 1-for-17 drought for the Dodgers with runners in scoring position. An ailing Hanley Ramirez added a run-scoring hit of his own as Los Angeles handed Wainwright his first postseason loss and trimmed its deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 is Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, with Ricky Nolasco scheduled to start against St. Louis right-hander Lance Lynn.

Los Angeles got Ramirez and center fielder Andre Ethier back in the lineup after both proved in batting practice they were healthy enough to play. Ramirez wore a lightweight flak jacket to protect his broken left rib – having been hit by a pitch from Joe Kelly in Game 1 – while Ethier has been bothered by shin splints.

”What can I say? It couldn’t be better,” Ramirez said. ”Really happy we got the first win. Just come back tomorrow and even up the series.”

Ramirez singled his first time up off Wainwright and then helped the Dodgers extend their lead to 3-0 in the eighth.

Ramirez hit a soft single off Seth Maness over the head of new second baseman Kolten Wong to score Carl Crawford. The speedy Crawford, on second base after a one-out single, rounded third and never stopped running when the throw from the outfield went to second base.

On a close play at the plate, Crawford barely beat the tag by catcher Yadier Molina.

During the rally, retired Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, whose 1988 team won the franchise’s last World Series title, stood up and waved his white rally towel to raucous applause.

Ryu and Wainwright were nearly even through the first three scoreless innings, with Wainwright giving up one hit. Ryu, who struggled in his first career postseason start in the division series against Atlanta, retired 12 of his first 13 batters, yielding only a walk.

Ryu was much improved after lasting just three innings as the first South Korean pitcher to start a playoff game last week against Atlanta. He allowed four runs on six hits for a no-decision in a game the Dodgers won.

The left-hander didn’t allow a Cardinals runner past second base. David Freese’s single to right leading off the fifth was their first hit of the game.

Freese was replaced by a pinch-runner in the fifth because of tightness in his right calf. He is day to day.

Ryu struck out four and walked one.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly came out to the mound accompanied by a translator with two outs in the seventh. Ryu responded by striking out Matt Adams to end the inning as catcher A.J. Ellis pumped his right arm in the air. Fans waved South Korean flags in support of Ryu.

Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for a save.

Wainwright gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked none in his first career postseason loss.

Puig’s RBI triple in the fourth snapped an 0-for-11 skid in the series.

After the first two games in St. Louis were decided by one run, the Dodgers got to Wainwright in the fourth and took a 2-0 lead.

Gonzalez’s double down the right-field line scored Mark Ellis, who doubled leading off. With two outs, Puig tripled off the wall in right, scoring Gonzalez.

Puig had struck out seven times before getting his first hit against the Cardinals. He raised his arms and watched the ball sail toward right before starting to charge harder when he realized it wasn’t going to be a home run. He ran into third base and clapped his hands before raising them again as the sellout crowd of 53,940 cheered.

”He brings unbelievable energy every day,” Ramirez said. ”When we spoke to him, he told me, ‘I got it today,’ and he did. He’s a great player.”

Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay was involved in an apparent miscommunication when the ball hit by Mark Ellis dropped between him and right fielder Carlos Beltran. The Dodgers’ first hit, a single by Ramirez to shallow center in the first, dropped between Jay and second baseman Matt Carpenter.

— Associated Press —