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There was something in the air yesterday with crazy sports finishes, and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off the day with yet another close-and-late victory.
With the score tied at two in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp—the MVP runner-up in 2011 who has had to fight for playing time in a crowded L.A. outfield—drove a 2-1 pitch from the Cardinals’ Pat Neshek down the line and over the wall to provide the winning margin in the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory. The best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1 as the teams head back to St. Louis for Game 3 on Monday night.
It looked like the Dodgers were going to cruise to a win as starter Zack Greinke absolutely dominated the Cardinals, limiting them to just two hits and no runs in his seven innings of work, and leaving with a 2-0 lead thanks to RBIs from Dee Gordon and Adrian Gonzalez. In the top half of the 8th, however, L.A. setup man J.P. Howell gave the lead back on this two-run, game-tying home run by Matt Carpenter:
The Dodgers proved themselves resilient following Kemp’s homer, however, with closer Kenley Jansen making short work of the Cardinals in the 9th inning and cementing a huge win.