Cards finally offer some excitement in eighth but lose a tough one in LA

Pat Neshek has credited his All-Star season to the rebirth of his fastball, which he has thrown 92 mph with consistency all season.

But against the first batter he faced Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, Neshek went with all sliders. And Matt Kemp deposited the foruth one into the left-field seats for a home run that broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory that evened the National League Division Series at one game apiece.

Game 3 is scheduled for 8:37 p.m. Monday at Busch Stadium.

Hot-hitting Matt Carpenter tied the game with a two-run homer that scored Oscar Taveras, who led off the eighth with a pinch-hit single just inside the first-base line.

The blast for Carpenter was his second in two games after he had homered just twice in his final 255 plate appearances of the regular season. Just as surprising for Carpenter, the NL leader in pitches per plate appearance: Both came on the first pitch of his at-bat.

This one came two batters after Don Mattingly pulled Zack Greinke, who had shut out the Cardinals on two hits for seven innings. Greinke did not allow a hit until Kolten Wong doubled with one out in the fifth.

3 UP

-- Lance Lynn. He could use some of those runs the Cardinals scored for him during his 18-win 2012. This was the fifth straight Lynn start the Cardinals lost even though he has allowed a total of nine runs. The big right-hander has worked at least six innings and gave up as many as three runs only once.

Watch the Missouri Lottery Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest after every St. Louis Cardinals postseason game.

Against the Dodgers, Lynn twice worked out of tight spots and probably would have given up only one run except for a defensive misplay by Wong. The appearance was Lynn's 22nd in the postseason, which extended his record for most by a Cardinals pitcher. It also was the first time in six starts he made it through six innings.

-- Retiring Yasiel Puig. When Lynn missed with a fastball that was more high than inside in Puig's first at-bat, the Dodgers' center fielder appeared to take exception. Interesting because when he was hit in Game 1, he said nothing but his teammate Adrian Gonzalez did. This time, Puig had a few words for catcher Yadier Molina, who shooed him off with a wave of his hands. Working inside on Puig that one time paid off for the Cardinals. Puig struck out in all four of his at-bats, just as he did in Game 2 of last year's NL Championship Series. In 33 plate appearances against the Cardinals in the playoffs. Puig has struck out 15 times.

-- Baseball at Busch. The Cardinals were guaranteed only one game at home when the postseason started. They return from LA assured of playing at least two more games at Busch, Game 3 at 8:37 p.m. Monday and Game 4 at 4:07 p.m. Tuesday.

3 DOWN

-- Pat Neshek. Of the 15 runs he has allowed this season, 10 have come since Aug. 29, when the Cubs' Jorge Soler launched one of the most impressive homers at Busch Stadium all season. Over his past 14 outings, Neshek has a 6.59 ERA and .322 batting average against after posting a 0.81 and .143 in his first 59. Mike Matheny did not sound concerned about his All-Star right-hander in his postgame presser.

"He's been in a couple of spots where he's given up a couple and next time he comes out, he's right back to dominating," Matheny said. "He's going to be right back in there. We'll throw him right back in that tough spot and know that he's going to make good pitches for us."

-- Matt Holliday. He struck out three times, twice with runners in scoring position and twice on sliders that were well outside the strike zone. The third time came in the sixth with Carpenter on second base in what was the Cardinals' best scoring opportunity until the eighth. Holliday also made the first out in the eighth after Jon Jay singled following Carpenter's home run.

-- Kolten Wong's third-inning tag. With Greinke on first, Wong fielded Dee Gordon's grounder and did the right thing by tagging Greinke for the forceout before throwing to first for the double play. One problem. When he tagged Greinke, Wong already had taken the ball out of his glove because he had to hurry his throw in an attempt to retire the speedy Gordon.

Although initially ruled a double play, the umpires put Greinke on second base after a quick review. The mental mistake cost the Cardinals because Greinke then scored on a two-out single by Gonzalez.

"Kolten didn't even realize that he had the ball in his bare hand," Matheny said.

You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.