ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals acquired John Lackey for a moment just like this.

The right-hander will try to give the Cardinals the upper hand in their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, as the set shifts to Busch Stadium for Game 3.

Lackey was acquired from the Boston Red Sox at the non-waiver trade deadline and struggled a bit, going 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 10 starts. After dealing with a tired arm, Lackey did end the year strong, allowing just three earned runs over his final two starts, spanning 14 1/3 innings.

He does bring an impressive postseason resume with him, one that has two World Series titles on it, including one last year that saw him win the deciding game for the Red Sox against the Cardinals.

"I'm at the point of my career where being in the postseason and having the opportunity to win championships is definitely the most important thing," Lackey said. "I take pride in trying to pitch well at this time of year, and I've been fortunate to be on some good teams that had that opportunity."

Lackey has pitched in 19 postseason games (16 starts) and is 6-5 with a 3.03 ERA.

"We were very happy to bring him into our club," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We had a real good idea what we were going to get -- a veteran presence, a guy who knows what he's doing, knows how to go about and use his stuff, and just another starter to be ... in a leadership role and a voice for the rest of our staff.

"And he's been all of the above. He's come out and pitched well, he's competed and kept us in games, and he's a gamer. He's a competitor. He's a guy that we like to watch compete, especially on this kind of stage."

Los Angeles, meanwhile, will hand the ball to lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 12 because of a couple of injuries. The Korean hurler has battled back problems, not to mention a shoulder issue that was addressed with a cortisone shot.

When he takes the hill on Monday it will be only his fourth start since Aug. 13.

"Overall, I feel really good," Ryu said through an interpreter. "Compared to the last time I had this injury, I actually took the mound a few more times. I tried to make sure I didn't do too much or too little. I feel very confident right now. My arm feels really good. My shoulder feels really strong. And I have a pretty good feeling I'll be able to put in a good game tomorrow."

Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly stated that Dan Haren, who has already been named the Game 4 starter, would be the first pitcher out of the bullpen should Ryu get injured again.

"I'm thinking that there's very little, almost zero percent chance that the injury is going to come back tomorrow," Ryu said. "I'm not even thinking about it. I don't think it's good for my psyche to think that way. I threw a few bullpen sessions and I went 100 percent, I felt great in all those sessions, I don't foresee a reason why I would feel anything tomorrow."

When healthy, Ryu was solid, going 14-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 26 starts. Still, he was limited to only 152 innings this season.

After St. Louis roughed up probable NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw in Game 1, Los Angeles evened the series on Saturday, as Matt Kemp's leadoff blast in the bottom of the eighth lifted the Dodgers to a 3-2 win.

Like Boston's Carlton Fisk in the 1975 World Series, Kemp pleaded with the ball while it was in the air, calling for it to stay fair, then celebrated around first base when it complied.

St. Louis had tied the game in its half of the eighth on a two-run home run from Matt Carpenter, who was the hero of the Cards' Game 1 win with four RBI.

"To face Kershaw and Greinke and get a split, that's what we were after," said Carpenter.

Carpenter is 4-for-8 in the series with two homers, two doubles and six RBIs. He is now tied with Carlos Beltran (2013) and Daniel Descalso (2012) for the third-most RBI in an NLDS in Cardinals history.

TSN's Game Notes:

* The Cardinals' Matt Carpenter is 4-8 with 4 extra-base hits and 6 RBI in the series (the rest of the team is 11-59 with 3 XBH, 6 RBI).

* John Lackey has a 1.93 ERA in 11 career appearances (10 starts) against the Dodgers, his 2nd-lowest ERA against any team he's faced more than once.

* Hyun-Jin Ryu opposes Lackey for the Dodgers. He allowed 3 hits in 7 scoreless IP against the Cardinals in Game 3 of last year's NLCS.

Los Angeles took four of the seven regular season matchups between these clubs this season.

St. Louis and Los Angeles have met four times in the playoffs (1985, 2004, 2009, 2013) and the Dodgers won only one series, sweeping the Cards in three games in the 2009 Division Series.

Los Angeles was 0-3 at Busch Stadium in last year's playoffs, shut out twice. The Dodgers scored two runs and totaled 16 hits in 31 innings with no homers.