Dodgers edge closer to Cards

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 celebrated twice on his RBI triple that helped Los Angeles beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0, 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 as Los Angeles handed Wainwright his first postseason loss and trimmed its deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

“The playoffs are one-day momentum swings,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Right now I feel like we’ve kind of grabbed it.”

Puig’s youthful exuberance, which energized the Dodgers as they surged from last place to first during a torrid midseason stretch, was on full display in the fourth inning.

The 22-year-old Cuban defector was so excited when he connected that he raised his arms immediately and stood in the batter’s box to watch the flight of the ball toward right field, clearly thinking it was going out of the park.

Once he realized it wasn’t, Puig started charging. He roared into third base and clapped his hands before raising them again as the sellout crowd of 53,940 cheered.

Puig had reason to exult, having struck out seven times in the series before getting his first hit.

“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.”

Game 4 is Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, with Ricky Nolasco scheduled to start against St. Louis right-hander Lance Lynn. But there was speculation the Dodgers might switch to Zack Greinke, especially after they passed over Nolasco with short notice in the previous round.

“Everybody’s trying to do the best they can to get to the World Series,” Puig said through a translator.

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 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.