Wong powers Cardinals' victory

— -- St. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong has been waiting nearly a year for a chance at redemption after getting picked off first base to end Game 4 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox last October.

He just got his moment.

It came in the form of a go-ahead, two-run home run off Los Angeles Dodgers lefty reliever Scott Elbert in the seventh inning of the Cardinals' 3-1 victory on Monday night.

"Last year didn't go as planned," Wong said after helping the Cardinals to a 2-1 series lead. "That pickoff last year definitely crushed me for a long time throughout the offseason. I was really excited about it [this year]. To finally contribute to this team and do something special was exciting for me. I let a lot of emotion out."

Wong might have never gotten the chance to be the hero if not for the faith manager Mike Matheny showed in starting him against lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu and then leaving him to face Elbert. Some of that decision can be found in the numbers; some simply in Matheny's gut.

"There are some splits that will support that," Matheny said before the game. "But besides that, [I] like the at-bats that Kolten is taking and like him in the lineup and don't necessarily rule him out when there is a lefty on the mound."

Smart thinking.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly probably wished Matheny felt differently while making out the lineup for Game 3.

"He's a dangerous cat for me, he's got bat speed and can hit a fastball, for sure," Mattingly said. "You've still got to get the ball to certain parts of the plate and we haven't been able to do it."

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the left-handed hitting Wong ended the regular season with nine hits in his last 22 at-bats (.409) against lefty pitching. He was "just" 14-for-51 (.275) before that.

"These guys take a lot of pride in not wanting to be that guy that has to be pulled when a lefty gets into the rotation and we're facing them," Matheny said. "And they work at it. And it's nice to see it pay off."

The Cardinals' left-handed batters are 16-for-42 (.381) so far in the series, and that's with two good lefties in Clayton Kershaw and Ryu starting two of the three games -- as well as Elbert. Matt Carpenter hit his third home run in as many games in the third inning off of Ryu, then later Wong took a first-pitch slider from Elbert out to right field. That sent the largest crowd in new Busch Stadium history (47,574) into a frenzy.

"Every once in a while he's going to pop one," Matheny said of Wong.

The Cardinals have been popping more balls this series than they normally do, considering they finished last in the National League in home runs during the regular season. That statistic is meaningless to them because they lead all playoff teams with six. It's when you hit them, not how many.

"We've heard a lot about that this season, about our lack of home runs," Matheny said. "It's nice to see them in big situations like this. We've got guys that can do it, but we're not preaching it. It isn't like we started October and all of a sudden say, 'We're going to hit homers.'"

But that's exactly what they've done. Carpenter became the only player ever to go deep and record a double in three consecutive postseason games, while Wong's home run was the first for the Cardinals to put them ahead that late in a postseason contest since David Freese hit a famous 11th-inning walk-off blast in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. St. Louis has found its power stroke, and it's the lefties doing most of the damage.

"Kolten's always taken good at bats versus left handers," Carpenter said. "And I felt like I've held my own against left-handers. We got some lefties in our lineup that don't really feel uncomfortable versus a left-handed pitcher."

That's the exception in baseball, not the norm. Mattingly was nearly at a loss for words about the lefty-on-lefty damage being done to his southpaws.

"We knew the Cardinals were a team with some good left-handed hitters, and we wanted to try to be able to neutralize them," he said. "Obviously, to this point, we have not been able to. We've just got to continue to maybe search a little different avenue to try to get these guys out. They're the guys that seem to be hurting us as much as anybody."

It all adds up to the potential for the Cardinals to eliminate the Dodgers on Tuesday with Kershaw on the mound on just three days' rest. It's the best lefty in baseball to stave off elimination for his team. The only problem is that's all the Cardinals have been doing: hitting lefties. Wong was the hero this time.

"You're constantly working, trying to figure out how to make this game a little easier, how to finally succeed," Wong said. "And when you do, it's definitely one of those things you're really proud of."

Wong finally got his redemption. Will Kershaw get his, or will the Cardinals' lefties have their way with Dodgers' pitching once again?