Baseball: Cardinals' stun Dodgers with eight-run rally

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) reacts after the St. Louis Cardinals...
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) reacts after the St. Louis Cardinals take the lead in the seventh inning in game one of the 2014 NLDS playoff baseball game at Dodger Stadium. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports via...

The visiting St. Louis Cardinals erupted for eight runs in the seventh inning to stun the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw in a 10-9 shocker in the opener of their Division Series.

Kershaw, the top pitcher in Major League Baseball with a 21-3 mark and a 1.77 earned run average, had held the Cards to two hits - a pair of solo home runs - as the Dodgers carried a 6-2 lead off the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright into the seventh.

Continuing a trend of comebacks in this young postseason, St. Louis began the frame with four singles in a row and capped the big inning with a go-ahead three-run double by Matt Carpenter and a three-run homer by Matt Holliday to spin the rout into the other direction for a 10-6 lead.

A two-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez in the eighth made it a two-run game and the Dodgers scored again in the bottom of the ninth before closer Trevor Rosenthal struck out Yasiel Puig with a man on third to end it as St. Louis held on for the win.

The second game of the best-of-five series will be played on Saturday in Los Angeles with Lance Lynn (15-10) scheduled to pitch for St. Louis against the Dodgers' Zack Greinke (17-8).

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