By Agence France-Presse

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina drove in the tying and winning runs to rally the Cardinals past Atlanta 5-4 in 10 innings Monday and force a one-game showdown to advance in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates as he hits a walk-off sacrifice fly to give his team the 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves in game four of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium on October 07, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Scott Kane / Getty Images / AFP)

The Cardinals pulled level at 2-2 in the best-of-five series with the final game on Wednesday in Atlanta, the winner advancing to the National League Championship Series.

St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong doubled down the left-field line off Atlanta reliever Julio Teheran in the 10th and Marcell Ozuna, who hit two home runs, reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Wong to third.

Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by his teammates after he hits a walk-off sacrifice fly to give his team the 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves in game four of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium on October 07, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Scott Kane / Getty Images / AFP)

Molina, who had singled in the tying run in the eighth inning, then blasted a sacrifice fly to left field, sending Wong to home plate for the winning run.

“I was ready to hit the fastball and he gave it to me right down the middle,” said Molina, in his 93rd career playoff start. “We put some good at-bats together in the last inning and we got the win.”

In the American League, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier smashed a three-run homer to help power the Rays over Houston 10-3 to sustain their title hopes.

Paul Goldschmidt and Ozuna smacked back-to-back solo homers off Atlanta starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel in the first inning.

Ozzie Albies hit a sacrifice fly in the third to open Atlanta’s scoring but Ozuna followed in the fourth with another solo homer for a 3-1 St. Louis edge.

The Braves grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Albies smashed a two-out, two-run homer after Dansby Swanson doubled and scored on an error by Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter.

Rays rip Astros

In Florida, the Rays pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-five series and will host game four on Tuesday, when Houston’s Justin Verlander will pitch on short rest to seek a series-winning victory.

Houston’s Jose Altuve opened the scoring on Monday with a first-inning solo homer but Justin Verlander’s blast in the second inning put the Rays ahead to stay.

Kevin Kiermaier #39 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a three-run home run in the second inning against the Houston Astros in Game Three of the American League Division Series at Tropicana Field on October 07, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. ( Julio Aguilar / Getty Images / AFP)

“Running around the bases not feeling my feet hit the ground was a great feeling,” Kiermaier said.

“They have been hammering me with a bunch of off-speed. I got a change-up over the plate. It felt good. We’ve been needing that. For us to go up two from there was huge. We’re better when we’re not playing from behind.”

Tampa Bay pitcher Charlie Morton, a 35-year-old American right-hander who played with Houston the past two seasons, struck out nine batters while issuing only three hits and two walks over five innings.

Morton improved to 4-0 in career playoff elimination games.

“Nothing ever bothers him. He’s so composed,” Kiermaier said.

Elsewhere, Max Scherzer pitched seven quality innings on a short rest and the Washington Nationals routed the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 to even their series 2-2.

The 35-year-old Scherzer allowed just one run on four hits and struck out seven for the Nationals, who forced a decisive game five Wednesday in southern California.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer and Anthony Rendon drove in three runs. Right hander Scherzer threw 72 of his total 109 pitchers for strikes and walked three.

Dodgers relief pitcher Julio Urias took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits and getting just two outs.

Left hander Rich Hill started the game for Los Angeles and was followed by five relievers including Urias. Hill lasted just 2 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the seventh, but their rally was quashed when Joc Pederson grounded out to second base to end the inning.

The Dodgers are trying to book a third straight trip to the NL Championship series.