Stars und Sternchen! » got home runs from Matt Holliday and

LOS ANGELES -- The Cardinals have been this close to the World Series before, and they dont want to blow it this time. St. Louis got home runs from Matt Holliday and pinch-hitter Shane Robinson -- the first of the NL championship series -- and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Tuesday night for a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven playoff. The Cardinals have lost the NLCS both times they owned such a commanding lead, most recently last season when they dropped three in a row to San Francisco, the eventual World Series winner. "Thats something that we thought last year -- up 3-1 and all we have to do is win one more and were there," closer Trevor Rosenthal said. "But that didnt work out, so weve just got to keep the same approach." With a quick turnaround for Game 5 Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, the Dodgers will try to forget the loss, and hope the Cardinals remember their recent past failures. "We get into a Game 7, those things (losing a 3-1 lead) will creep into their heads over there," Dodgers infielder Adrian Gonzalez said. "Our goal is definitely to push this to a Game 7." Joe Kelly will start Game 5 for the Cardinals, looking to clinch their 19th pennant. The Dodgers will turn to Zack Greinke, and if he can help deliver a win, theyll call on ace Clayton Kershaw for a potential Game 6 back in St. Louis. "Ive got one of the best pitchers in baseball pitching tomorrow," manager Don Mattingly said. "If we come out here and play well tomorrow and get a win, Ive probably got the best pitcher in baseball pitching the next day." The Dodgers hope star shortstop Hanley Ramirez can again start despite a broken left rib. He left in the middle of the sixth after striking out three times. "It felt worse than yesterday," Ramirez said. "It makes me angry." Cardinals infielder David Freese came out after six innings for defence. He left Mondays game with a cramp in his right calf, but manager Mike Matheny said Freese was fine. In a series starved for offence, the Cardinals scored as many runs as they did in the first three games combined, when the teams totalled nine. Hitless in his previous 22 at-bats at Dodger Stadium, Holliday drove a two-run shot off Ricky Nolasco an estimated 426 feet to left field, capping a three-run third inning that gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. "Thats about as good as I can hit one," said Holliday, who was 0 for 13 in the series before connecting. "I wasnt really doubting my swing at all. I felt actually really good with my at-bats. Sometimes in this game you dont always get the results that you want even if you feel like youre having good at-bats, so I just wanted to stay with it," he said. Seeking a second World Series title in three years, St. Louis turned three important double plays and picked off a runner at second base in the seventh. Defensive standout Pete Kozma, inserted at shortstop in the sixth, started a difficult double play and darted in to complete the pickoff. "A great heads-up play by him," Matheny said. "Then it has to be natural instincts and athleticism by (reliever) Carlos Martinez, and I dont know many guys pull that off. He has such athletic moves. Hes quick in everything he does. Then to have the guts to wheel and let it fly like that in a game like we have right now, its off the charts." Second baseman Matt Carpenter also keyed St. Louis sharp work with the gloves, one night after some sloppy play was costly in a 3-0 defeat. Carpenter had an RBI double in the third that scored Descalso, who hit a leadoff single. Carpenter came around on Hollidays homer after there were none in the first three games for the first time in NLCS history. Martinez pitched two scoreless innings to help nail down the win for starter Lance Lynn, who allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out five and walked three. Trevor Rosenthal got three outs for his second save in the series. After a leadoff single by Andre Ethier in the ninth, Yasiel Puig grounded into a double play. Juan Uribe struck out to end it, leaving the Dodgers on the brink of elimination. Robinsons home run bounced off the top of the wall in left field on a 1-0 pitch from J.P. Howell with one out in the seventh, extending the Cardinals lead to 4-2. "For a little guy, hes got surprising power," Holliday said. "I mean, honestly, hes got some thump." The Dodgers were down 4-2 in the seventh when Nick Punto doubled with one out. Martinez, however, picked off Punto before throwing another pitch and then retired Carl Crawford on an inning-ending groundout. "It was a lonely place to be," Punto said. Trailing 3-2, the Dodgers put the potential tying run on base in the sixth when Puig singled to chase Lynn. Uribe grounded into a double play against Seth Maness to end the inning. Nolasco allowed three runs and three hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked one. "I felt my stuff was good for the most part," he said. "Just that one pitch was the difference in the game." Nike Blazer Sale Online . The Marlies surrendered two power-play goals and failed to score on six man-advantage opportunities en route to a 4-1 defeat in American Hockey League action on Saturday. Cheap Nike Blazer Online . Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer pinch ran. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper. Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball. http://www.nikeblazercheap.com/ . It certainly isnt a coincidence that Dwight Howard has scored at least 20 points in each game of the winning streak. Buy Cheap Nike Blazer . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity. Cheap Nike Blazer Shoes . One out away from finishing off an impressive shutout, they let a must-win game slip away.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The Pistons and Nets were both out of gas by the end of Saturday nights game.Detroit was just able to coast a little further.Playing for the fourth time in five nights, the Pistons put together an 8-0 run in the final three minutes to beat the Nets 98-93. The Nets, who were in action for the fifth time in seven days, had two key turnovers in that stretch.Those are the type of games that get people talking about changing the NBA schedule, said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. We didnt have any energy and neither did they, and this is the kind of game you get in that situation. You just keep trying to get good shots and hope something goes in, even though you dont have any legs, and you keep working on defence.Detroits confidence also may have helped down the stretch, something that would have been hard to imagine a month ago. The Pistons have won eight of nine since releasing Josh Smith after a December loss to the Nets, while Brooklyn has lost five in a row.We played good defence, but we had 10 turnovers in the second half, said Nets coach Lionel Hollins. Every game, the turnovers are hurting us and the missed shots are hurting us. We had shots tonight that would have put us ahead or further ahead, and we couldnt hit them.Brandon Jennings had 20 points despite going scoreless in the first half, and Detroit also got 16 points and 17 rebounds from Greg Monroe and 14 points and nine boards from Andre Drummond.Joe Johnson led the Nets with 17 points, while Brook Lopez had 11 points and 15 rebounds.The Pistons set a franchise-record with 43 3-point attempts in Fridays 106-103 loss to Atlanta. The previous high was 33. And it didnt take long for Saturdays game to turn into an outside-shooting duel.The teams combined to go 10--for-33 from outside the arc in the first half, which ended at 47-47.dddddddddddd. Johnson and Kyle Singler both went 3-for-4 on threes in the half, while the rest of their teammates struggled.There was a little bit of trying to get a rhythm and a flow, but I thought we hit our stride in the fourth quarter, Singler said. This was big, because Coach told us after last night that we werent going to fall back into losing a game and going backward.Jennings scored 13 points in the third, but the Pistons still needed a buzzer-beating dunk by Drummond to take a 74-69 lead into the fourth.With both teams continuing to bomb away from outside with little success, the game remained close until the Pistons turned a pair of turnovers into fast-break baskets. Jennings then hit a 3-pointer to make it 91-84 with 2:30 to play.Mason Plumlee was called for a charge at the other end, and Greg Monroes layup gave Detroit a nine-point lead, its biggest of the game. After that, the only excitement was Lopezs late 3-pointer — the first of his 369-game career.We gave ourselves an opportunity, and we just have to keep going, Lopez said. We know what this league is likeTIP-INSNets: Kevin Garnett returned to the lineup after resting Friday night in a loss to Philadelphia. However, he finished with only two points in 16 minutes. ... Lopez was 0-for-9 on 3-pointers before hitting the meaningless shot Saturday.Pistons: Drummond played 28 minutes, one night after sitting out most of Fridays loss due to an illness. ... The Pistons have taken 76 3-pointers in the last two games, making 24 of them. They have taken 33 or more threes five times in franchise history — all this season.UP NEXTNets: Host the Rockets on Monday.Pistons: Visit the Raptors on Monday. ' ' '