Nightengale: Lots of love for Matt Kemp after key homer

LOS ANGELES - Matt Kemp wanted out, believing the Los Angeles Dodgers really didn't want him.

The Dodgers wanted him out, believing Kemp really didn't want to stay.

It turns out the greatest move the Dodgers made at the trade deadline was making no trade at all.

"If we don't have him,'' Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis says, "we're probably home watching baseball.''

Certainly, the Dodgers' year could have abruptly ended without him, with Kemp saving their season Saturday night with a game-winning homer in the eighth inning, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, and sending the best-of-five Division series back to St. Louis tied at 1-apiece.

"It was big,'' Kemp says. "Coming in, I thought we had to win the game. You don't want to go down 2-0 in St. Louis. A tough environment. They have some pretty rowdy fans.

"They would have had the moment.

"So I knew we needed to win.

"It was big for us. We could definitely feed off this win.''

We'll soon find out whether the victory vaults the Dodgers into the next round of the playoffs, or simply delays the end of their season, but one swing of the bat certainly had a dramatic effect on this night.

"I love him, I could have kissed him,'' says Dodgers reliever J.P. Howell, who coughed up the game-tying home run in the top of the eighth to Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter. "I was feeling as low as you can get. And then I was feeling as high as you can get.

"You talk about a roller-coaster.''

Welcome to the 2014 postseason, where eight of the 11 games have been decided by one run, four requiring extra innings, including the San Francisco Giants' 18-inning NL Division Series win over the Washington Nationals.

"This is just awesome,'' Ellis says. "Baseball is the best sport in the world. You can't run out the clock. We've seen that the last couple of days. You have to get three outs. The drama is always there to the last pitch.

"I'm glad these games are getting drug out too because there's been so much harped on the pace of play, and we need to speed things up. But baseball is meant to be played deliberately. It's mean to be a game of strategy, a game of making decisions.

"This is not a game you rush.''

And certainly, the Dodgers can be forever grateful that they didn't make any rush decisions on Kemp at the trade deadline, deciding to keep him, and watching him carry the team.

A year ago at this time, he was on crutches watching the Dodgers lose in six games to the Cardinals in the NLCS, undergoing surgeries in the offseason on his left ankle and shoulder.

This season, he looks a whole lot like the guy from three years ago who hit .324 with 39 homers and 126 RBI, finishing second in the MVP race to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers.

"It's been a grind the last two years,'' Kemp says. "Last year was a disappointing year for me as far as just sitting there and watching my team be successful. I think I could have helped them a lot.

"I'm just blessed to be able to be on this stage and be healthy.

"I feel like I'm still healing a little bit as far as my ankle, and I'm not running as good as I want to run, but right now I feel good at the plate.

"I feel like this is the year that we can do something big.''

And it would not be happening without Kemp, who has been a one-man wrecking crew the last six weeks.

Kemp is hitting. .355 with nine doubles, 10 homers and 28 RBI in his last 28 games since Aug. 30, and has five hits in the first two games of this series. While his outfield teammates of Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford went hitless in eight at-bats, striking out seven times, Kemp was the toast of Hollywood.

"I think it's been a tale of two seasons for Matt,'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The first half seemed to be a little bit more of a struggle. Then, the second half, the power came.

"It's been a tough couple of years for him with multiple surgeries, and I think taking a lot longer to get back, to get his rhythm, and get back into the game than I think he expected.''

The stage to showcase Kemp's resurgence was set up in the eighth inning after Howell managed to blow starter Zack Greinke's brilliant performance in a span of four pitches. Greinke, who gave up just two hits in seven shutout innings, left the game when left-handed pinch-hitter Oscar Taveras was brought into the game.

Taveras greeted Howell with a scorching single down the right-field line, and one pitch later, Carpenter ripped a homer into the right-field Pavilion.

It was the second time in two days the Dodgers managed to squander a late-inning lead.

Only this time, it took just one pitch for Kemp to alter the fate, pounding a 2-1 slider by Cardinals All-Star reliever Pat Neshek into the left field seats.

"You can tell there's a different confidence in his swing, and his approach, and how he attacks the ball,'' Cardinals manager Mike Matheny says. "I always respect how these guys just push even when they're not right physically. They figure out a way to stay in there and fight.

"But then they're rewarded once they do come around to full health.

"He's in a good spot health-wise right now, and you can tell it in his swing.''

The Dodgers believe they're in a good spot, too, with the momentum shifting back in their favor.

The Cardinals will tell you they got the split they needed, and believe they can close it out in St. Louis.

Who knows, in this zany postseason that has produced more drama this first week than anyone can recall, maybe this will be the Series that's remembered most.

If nothing else, it's the only one that can't mathematically end in a sweep.

"We got a guaranteed Game 4,'' Ellis says. "This has just been amazing. Anything can happen.''

There's no need to look past Kemp for living proof.

GALLERY: Cardinals-Dodgers NLDS