ST. Pittsburgh Pirates Gear . LOUIS - Matt Adams could barely contain his enthusiasm and he didnt really try, either. He thrust both arms in the air while still in the batters box and added a couple of big hops to his home run trot as he approached first base.A stunned Clayton Kershaw, bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees, watched from the mound as the long drive off Big Citys bat propelled St. Louis to a fourth straight NL Championship Series.Some people are calling it the Big City Leap, Adams said. I was just super-excited, I didnt know what I was doing ... I knew I was jumping for joy.The Cardinals tagged Kershaw in the seventh inning for the second straight time, riding Adams go-ahead, three-run homer to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for a 3-1 win in the best-of-five Division Series.I dont think I touched the ground the whole way around the bases, Adams said. Definitely the highlight of my career. ... I will never, ever forget this.Neither will Kershaw.The Cardinals sent the Dodgers home for the second post-season in a row with a win over Kershaw. Last year it was in Game 6 of the NLCS.The season ended and I was a big part of the reason why, Kershaw said. I cant really put it into words, Just bad deja vu all over again.The NLCS starts Saturday in St. Louis, with the Cardinals hosting San Francisco in a rematch of 2012 won by the Giants.Trevor Rosenthal allowed two runners in the ninth before getting Carl Crawford on a grounder for a game-ending forceout for his third save of the series. At AT&T Park in San Francisco, fans cheered when the rival Dodgers were eliminated.It was awesome, everything we did throughout that game, starter Shelby Miller said. It was a heck of a game and a lot of fun, I know that.An overwhelming favourite to win his third NL Cy Young Award in four years, Kershaws October resume is a wreck.Kershaw dropped to 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in 11 post-season games, including three relief appearances early in his career. He has lost four straight starts to St. Louis over the past two postseasons.Ive had success against them, too, Kershaw said. It just seems like one inning gets me every time. And obviously thats not success.While the steady Cardinals advanced to their ninth NLCS in 15 years, the defeat was a huge disappointment for the NL West champion Dodgers, who finished the regular season with a $256 million payroll that was $40 million higher than any other team.Los Angeles remains without a pennant since winning the 1988 World Series.Its awful, catcher A.J. Ellis said. Its devastating. It just kind of rehashes those old memories.Manager Don Mattingly wasnt about to second-guess leaving Kershaw in the game, especially with a bullpen thats foundered. He wanted the lefty to get three more outs.It goes back to the same question: Is there anybody better, even on short rest, and even where he was at that point? Mattingly said.Kershaw started on three days rest for the second time in his post-season career. He was dominant into the seventh, as he was in Game 1, but again started the inning with three straight hits.The third hit Tuesday came when Adams, the burly bopper know as Big City, drove a curveball on Kershaws 102nd pitch into the right-centre bullpen to put St. Louis up 3-2.I had a pretty good idea that it was gone, Adams said.The red-clad crowd roared and twirled white towels as Kershaw made a slow slog back to the Dodgers dugout.Kershaw allowed one homer to left-handed batters while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA in the regular season. He gave up two to the Cardinals, with Matt Carpenter connecting in the opener. The left-handed ace is 0-3 with a 9.72 ERA in his last three post-season appearances.Reliever Marco Gonzales earned his second victory of the series, after getting treated for a nosebleed. The rookie lefty got Adrian Gonzalez on a groundout to end the seventh and strand two runners.Pat Neshek worked a perfect eighth for the second straight game and Rosenthal pitched the ninth for a second straight day, receiving two visits to the mound from catcher Yadier Molina and one from the pitching coach after a shaky start to the inning.Kershaw had yielded only one hit through six innings and struck out nine, including three in a row in the sixth.But Matt Holliday opened the seventh with a sharp single up the middle off second baseman Dee Gordons glove, and Jhonny Peralta lined another single before Adams homered off a left-hander for the first time since July 7.The Cardinals had an NL-low 105 homers this season and left-hander batters had only eight homers against lefty pitching. But lefties hit five off Dodgers southpaws in four playoff games.Miller matched Kershaw into the sixth, when the Dodgers started the inning with two hits. They scored a run on Matt Kemps double-play grounder and added another on Juan Uribes RBI single against Seth Maness.But Los Angeles wasted a chance to add on when Andre Ethier, playing in place of Yasiel Puig, was picked off third by Molina a call overturned by video review.Miller went 5 2-3 innings in his first post-season start.UP NEXTCardinals: Adam Wainwright gets extra rest after a Game 1 dud when he was charged with six runs in 4 1-3 innings at Dodger Stadium. He was 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in September with two complete games, one of them a shutout.FIRST PITCHScott Rolen, who earned three of his seven Gold Gloves at third base and was a key member of two World Series teams, threw out the first pitch. Cheap Pirates Jerseys .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys .Dawson also birdied two of the last four holes to reach 12-under 132 on TPC San Antonios AT&T Canyons Course. He won his only title in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 2002 in the Web.com Tours LaSalle Bank Open.Im not going to lose any sleep, believe me, Dawson said. I used to be a perfectionist, but my attitude now is to play like Im in the pro-am. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ .com) - Thursday marks the official debut of a new dirt racing surface at Meydan Racecourse.MILAN, Italy -- Atletico Madrid struggled throughout but managed to win 1-0 at AC Milan thanks to a late Diego Costa header in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Wednesday. Diego Costa headed in Gabis corner seven minutes from time to secure victory ahead of the return match in Madrid on March 11. "We know that at Madrid it will be another game, which will also be important and very difficult," Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said. "Atletico dont change much whether theyre playing at home or away from home. "We have time to prepare the return leg and well have more players back. Im proud of what we did tonight... I saw a lot of positive things on the pitch." Bayern Munich won 2-0 at 10-man Arsenal in the other match of the night. Both teams missed a penalty in the first half, which also saw Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny sent off. Milan had dominated the match with its best performance of the season, hitting the woodwork three times in an entertaining first half hour. "We are a normal team, a very humble one which tries to do as well as we can," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. "We started better but then Milan caused us problems. "We didnt have many chances but as you know in football what matters is scoring goals and fortunately we scored a goal." Spains joint league leader was the overwhelming favourite but Milan was the superior side and had the better chances in Seedorfs first Champions League match as a manager. The Dutchman is the only player to have won the competition with three different clubs. There was more bad news on the night for Milan as star striker Mario Balotelli went off clutching his shoulder 12 minutes from time. The Italy forward will have tests on Thursday. Milan was boosted by key playmaker Kaka recovering from injury in time and the Brazilian was given the captains armband. Kaka overcame a bout of flu to play in Fridays 1-0 victory over Bologna but had to be replaced 10 minutes from time after injuring his rigght ankle. Pittsburgh Pirates Store. Stephan El Shaarawy, Valter Birsa, Robinho, Bryan Cristante and Cristian Zapata were all out with injury while Sulley Muntari and captain Riccardo Montolivo were both suspended. New signing Keisuke Honda is cup tied. Milan was the underdog after a miserable season which saw coach Massimiliano Allegri sacked at the beginning of the year. The side is ninth in the Serie A table and had been eliminated in each of its past four knockout ties against Spanish opposition. It appeared as if Milans fears were to be realized as the players struggled to get out of their own half in the opening 10 minutes. However, Milan was containing Atletico and slowly began to get into the game. Balotelli had the first real chance of the match with a 30-meter free-kick from roughly the same position that he scored a stunning goal from on Friday. But the Italy forward fired well wide of the left post. Milan went even closer four minutes later with a wickedly swerving shot from Kaka from the bottom corner of the penalty area which crashed off the crossbar. Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois -- who is on loan from Chelsea -- pulled off a stunning save shortly afterwards, fingertipping Andrea Polis header off the base of his right post after a great cross from Adel Taarabt. Tension was beginning to escalate at San Siro and a touchline brawl threatened to erupt following a poor Emiliano Insua tackle on Mattia De Scglio. The Milan defender had to be replaced by Ignazio Abate. Milan again went close on the half hour when Balotelli backeeled the ball to Kaka, whose effort scraped the top of the crossbar. Milan continued to dominate after the break and Kaka again went close with a drive narrowly past the left upright, while Michael Essien headed a corner wide. All Milans good work was to come to nothing, though, as Diego Costa headed powerfully home at the far post for his fifth goal in four Champions League matches. Milan almost snatched a draw but Adil Ramis free kick whistled wide of the left post. ' ' '