Game 4 of the NLDS had a buzz in Busch Stadium about who was going to play. St. Louis would turn to game 4 starter Shelby Miller's 2.08 era since August 23rd. MVP and Cy Young favorite, Clayton Kershaw, grabbed the hill on short rest for the Dodgers. In a shock to most, OF Yasiel Puig grabbed the pine due to his 3-for-12 and 8 strikeouts in the series which forced manger Don Mattingly to go with Andre Either in the outfield. In the end of at all, Matt 'Big City' Adams would make a name for his himself. 

The game started with both starters making a statement as Shelby Miller went 3-up-3-down on just 9 pitches and Clayton Kershaw answered by striking out the side to end the first at 0-0.  

The second was much to do about nothing. The top of the second inning started with an infield single by Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez promptly hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Puig's replacement, Andre Either, reached with a four pitch walk followed by Randall Gritchuk ending the rally with a nice snag in right-center that Jon Jay had lost in the sun. The Cards would also get a man on in the 2nd and then see Matt Adams hit into a double play. Yadier Molina would strike out to end the second. 
The third inning was more scoreless ball. A.J. Ellis would reach second. Dee Gordon flew out to left and Carl Crawford would strike out to end the threat. The Cards wouldn't threaten at all and the game was still scoreless at the end of three. 

The fourth inning for the Dodgers was 3-up-3-down. The Cardinals would finally break into the hit column with a one out single by Randall Gritchuk and made it to second base on a wild pitch. Matt Holiday's grounder to first moved Gritchuk to third with two out but Johnny Peralta would ultimately strikeout.

The scoring began in the sixth. After Carl Crawford reached on a single, Adrian Gonzales ripped a single to right which Crawford raced to third on the play. Matt Kemp came up with no outs and runners on the corners. Kemp hits into a double play, and Crawford scores. LA 1-0 STL on the top of the 6th. 

Two more batters would reach on the 23 year old Shelby Miller. Hanley Ramirez HBP and Andre Eithier walked on 5 pitches. That was it as Mike Matheny pulled the young right-hander with 2 on and 2 out in the top of the 6th. Righty Seth Maness came in for relief of Miller. Juan Uribe would single in another run, and during the next at bat, after video review, it was determined that Yadier Molina picked off Eithier at third when he caught him off guard. 

LA 2 StL 0 at the end of the top of the 6th. 

Clayton Kershaw was dealing and shut the Cards down in the bottom of the 6th. He tallied his 7th, 8th and 9th batters as he took down the side. Kershaw would end the inning at 95 pitches. 

The seventh had nothing doing for LA, but St. Louis would put runners on Kershaw, once again in the 7th inning. It was Deja Vu all again for Kershaw as Matt Adams drilled a 3 run shot over the wall to make it 3-2. 

Once again, Mattingly left Kershaw in way too long. 102 pitches on three days rest. When he let the first two on, all are thinking "pull him." Leaving a tired Kershaw in against a lefty cost the Dodgers the 7th inning lead again. 

Righty reliever Pat Neshek came in to game and shut the Dodgers down in the top of the 8th. He started off by getting revenge: Neshek struck out Matt Kemp (who hit the game winning HR in game 2 versus Neshek). He then finished the next to off for a quick 1-2-3 inning. 

The bottom of the eighth inning was a quick one. Pedro Beaz finished his 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Brandon League finished the Cardinals off by throwing one pitch to get Matt Holliday to ground out and end the 8th with a 3-2 St. Louis lead. 

Down 2-1 in a best of 5, it all came down to whether the Dodgers could score a single run to extend their season. St. Louis closer, Trevor Rosenthall, came into seal the deal. After getting the first out, A.J. Ellis reached on a walk. Yasiel Puig was put in to run for Ellis on first as the tying run. Rosenthall was wild, and after trips by catcher Yadier Molina and the coaching staff, Rosenthall struck out the batter Justin Turner for the second out. Dee Gordon slapped the first pitch into left for a single. That brought Carl Crawford up, with 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, and he grounded out to game three's hero Kolten Wong to end the series on a force at second. 

As predicted in this writer's article last week, the Cardinals took the series in four winning it 3-1. All these points were focused on in the series preview, but the Cardinals' disciplined hitting and gritty pitching beat out the star-studded LA Dodgers. In the end L.A. didn't live up to the hype again, and St. Louis continues to be the toughest out in the MLB Playoffs in recent memory. Go crazy folks, go crazy! We'll see you in the NLCS.