Cardinals 3, Dodgers 1: Kolten Wong belted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to snap a tie as host St. Louis once again took advantage of Los Angeles' shaky relief corps to win Game 3 of their National League Division Series.

Hyun-Jin Ryu returned from a shoulder injury to work six strong innings, allowing one run and five hits in his first start since Sept. 12, before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Scott Elbert (0-1) started the seventh in a 1-1 game and promptly yielded a leadoff double by Yadier Molina, who was sacrificed to third before Wong deposited the first pitch he saw into the Cardinals bullpen for the third crucial blast served up by a Dodgers reliever in the series.

The homer made a winner of John Lackey (1-0), who struck out eight while limiting Los Angeles to one run and five hits over seven innings. Matt Carpenter continued his offensive onslaught with a double and a solo homer, Molina also finished with two hits and Trevor Rosenthal worked around two hits in the ninth to notch his second save for the Cardinals, who can advance to the NL Championship Series for the fourth straight year with a victory at home in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Hanley Ramirez drove in the lone run while recording three of the seven hits by the Dodgers, who went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. A.J. Ellis improved to 6-for-10 in the series by recording a hit in two at-bats and Yasiel Puig ended a dubious streak of seven straight strikeouts in the series with a triple in the sixth inning.

After failing to capitalize on back-to-back singles to start the second inning, St. Louis got on the board when Carpenter led off the third by drilling a 1-2 changeup from Ryu into the right-center field seats. Los Angeles left a runner in scoring position in each of the first two frames and again in the fifth, and nearly did so in the sixth before Ramirez delivered a two-out double to right that plated Puig, who opened the frame with his triple.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Dodgers relievers Elbert, LH J.P. Howell and RH Pedro Baez have combined to allow six runs in 3 1/3 innings for a 16.22 ERA. ... Carpenter has been in a zone at the plate in the series, going 6-for-12 with three doubles, three homers - one in each game - and seven RBIs. ... Puig ended the series opener with a strikeout and fanned in all four of his at-bats in Game 2 before striking out twice prior to his triple. He also struck out in the eighth inning. ... Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez stranded a runner at third base twice, fouling out with one out in the first inning and popping up to shallow left field after Puig's three-base hit. ... With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Howell made a highlight-reel catch on a comebacker by Wong to start an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play. ... Two St. Louis legends reversed roles for the ceremonial first pitch as former C Tim McCarver delivered a pitch to ex-batterymate Bob Gibson.