NLCS Game 3: Dodgers beat Cardinals 3-0 with Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Hanley Ramirez coming up big

The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the board after beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Monday night in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. The Cardinals still lead the series 2-1

• Rookie left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu continued the excellent pitching the Dodgers have gotten in the series, allowing three hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings. He also struck out four, including slugger Matt Adams as the tying run to end the seventh.

"He controlled the counts, he controlled the plate," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

• Yasiel Puig also got on the board, getting his first hit of the series — an RBI triple against Adam Wainwright — in the Dodgers "big" two-run fourth inning. Puig had come into that at-bat 0 for 11 with seven strikeouts.

• Adrian Gonzalez got the Dodgers on the board with a bloop RBI double that scored Mark Ellis after a leadoff triple. The Dodgers hadn't scored in 22 innings in the series.

• It was the best 2 for 4 of Hanley Ramirez's career. He drove in an insurance run with a bloop single in the eighth, but just getting on the field was his personal victory. Unable to play in Game 2 because of a rib injury (which turned out to be a hairline fracture) suffered in Game 2, Ramirez took pain meds, wrapped up his chest and took his position at shortstop. Playing with a fractured rib might change the arc and narrative of his career.

• Carl Crawford and coach Tim Wallach, waving him home, did well to score the third run after a funky play by the Cardinals in the outfield in the eighth.

• He wasn't the only one troubled on defense, but Jon Jay had a rough night in center, misplaying two balls. He reached but failed to catch a fly ball that turned into a leadoff triple by A.J. Ellis in the fifth. It ended up not hurting in the scoreboook, as Adam Wainwright was able to pitch around the mistake. But Jay and Carlos Beltran let a fly ball hit by Mark Ellis drop between them for a double in the fourth, setting up the Dodgers to finally score.

"That wasn't very characteristic of how we've played all season," Matheny said. "Our team's done a great job of improving on defense. We just had a lot of balls in the air that hit the ground we normally don't. We're a better club than this."

• Daniel Descalso, pinch running because David Freese injured one of his legs, foolishly got doubled off second base in the fifth inning after the Cardinals had put their first two runners aboard.

• Matt Holliday went 0 for 4 and is 0 for 10 in the series.

Puig's RBI triple might be the awakening of a beast.

• Why aren't the Cardinals hitting?

• Hanley Ramirez? More like Manly Ramirez!

• Puig heating up

• What's up with Freese?

• The Dodgers in position to tie the series after looking hopeless through Games 1 and 2.

Game 4 happens Tuesday night, with right-handers Lance Lynn of the Cardinals and Ricky Nolasco of the Dodgers squaring off. Only nine runs have been scored in the first three games combined. We might get eight or nine in the first three innings of Game 4 with these guys pitching.

David Brown is an editor at Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Engage him at @AnswerDave on Twitter, where you also can find @bigleaguestew, @Townie813, and @MikeOz. And check out the BLS Facebook Page.
The postseason marches on!