It’s that time of year. Greed sets in. The Cardinals showed up at Dodger Stadium for the first two games in the best-of-five National League Division Series wanting to get at least a split so they could negate the Dodgers’ home-field advantage. They did it. However, they are not satisfied.

It’s been a long journey for Matt Kemp along the road from injury and recovery to helping his club win Game 2 of their National League Division Series on Saturday night against the Cardinals.

The Dodgers responded Saturday to the devastating loss in the opener of the NL Division Series as they said they would with Matt Kemp making things right with a tiebreaking home run leading off the bottom of the eighth inning for a 3-2 win over the Cardinals.

The Cardinals and the Dodgers tangled in another thriller Saturday night, but this time Los Angeles came out on top, winning Game 2 of the National League Division Series, 3-2. The clubs now head to St. Louis for Game 3 on Monday with the series tied at a game apiece. Here’s what you should know about Game 2.

Each Giants pitcher contributed, but none more than starter-turned-reliever Yusmeiro Petit. He came in to start the 12th and ended up pitching six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and three walks (one intentional) while striking out seven.

Game 2 of the National League Division Series didn’t have all the offensive or extracurricular fireworks of Game 1, but it had plenty of drama, it ended in a Dodgers win and it brought this NLDS to a familiar place that astute observers of the game probably expected all along: dead even. Game 3 is set to begin Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu going up against Cardinals righty John Lackey.

The Dee Gordon grounder to second base that Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged during the third inning of Saturday night’s Game 2 of their National League Division Series turned out to be a pivotal play in his club’s 3-2 victory.

Tim Hudson held the Nationals to one run through 7 1/3 innings Saturday night in Game 2. The Giants tied the score in the ninth and eventually won, 2-1, in 18 innings to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Playing in only the second postseason game of his career, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon made franchise history in Saturday night’s 2-1, 18-inning loss in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Giants. By singling in each of his first four at-bats, the 24-year-old became the first player for either the Nationals or Expos to pick up four hits in a playoff game.

Until his final at-bat Saturday night, when he crushed a go-ahead homer, Brandon Belt wasn’t having much of a night against the Washington Nationals in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The Giants first baseman was 0-for-6, striking out twice while never hitting the ball out of the infield.

Nationals second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and manager Matt Williams were ejected from Saturday night’s Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Giants.

Even though the replay official in New York didn’t overturn home-plate umpire Vic Carapazza’s call that Giants runner Buster Posey was out at the plate trying to score from first on Pablo Sandoval’s double in the top of the ninth Saturday night at Nationals Park, it was exactly the type of play that expanded instant replay was intended for.

Engaging the Washington Nationals in a standoff that was equal parts endurance test and fight for survival, the Giants captured Saturday’s Game 2 of the National League Division Series, 2-1, on Brandon Belt’s tiebreaking home run leading off the 18th inning. San Francisco forged ahead in the best-of-five series, 2-0, and needs one more victory to advance to the next postseason round.

Though Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann had thrown just 100 pitches and had not allowed a hit since the third inning, manager Matt Williams replaced Zimmermann — with two outs and a 1-0 Washington lead in the ninth inning of Game 2 — with Drew Storen, who had not appeared in a playoff game since his four-run NLDS meltdown two years ago.

It took a playoff record-tying 18 innings, but the Giants outlasted the Nationals for an unforgettable 2-1 victory on Saturday to win Game 2 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series. A two-out, two-strike double by Pablo Sandoval tied the game in the top of the ninth, and a Brandon Belt solo home run won the game nine innings later. Here’s what you should know from Game 2.

The Giants’ apparent strategy of delivering a big hit once every nine innings not only worked, but it made for the longest game in postseason history — not to mention an unhappy birthday present for Nationals right-handed pitcher Tanner Roark. The 2-1 victory over the Giants in Game 2 of the National League Division Series went a full 18 innings and lasted 6 hours, 23 minutes.

The Giants extended their National League-record streak of postseason wins to 10 with a 2-1 victory in 18 innings at Nationals Park in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night.