Coming out of an off day that followed a stretch of playing 20 consecutive days, the Los Angeles Dodgers started their road trip with a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Mitch White has found a rhythm with making regular starts but he struggled Tuesday night. White’s troubles began when Albert Pujols provided the Cardinals with a lead on his solo home run in the second inning.
That sparked a two-out rally as a base hit and double put two runners in scoring position. White then hurt his cause by throwing a wild pitch. Andrew Knizner capped off the three-run inning with an RBI single.
White ran into more two-out trouble in the third inning when he surrendered a solo home run to Nolan Gorman. That marked the first time this season the right-hander allowed more than three earned runs in a start.
Knizner’s second RBI base hit of the game extended the Cardinals’ lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning, and Nolan Arenado drove in another run with two outs on a single.
If there was a silver lining for White and the Dodgers, he alleviated some burden on the bullpen by getting through five innings.
The Dodgers began to mount their comeback bid prior to White’s exit, with Trea Turner’s two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning cutting the deficit in half.
Hanser Alberto’s leadoff ground-rule double in the sixth inning was cashed in by Cody Bellinger and Austin Barnes contributing productive outs. Will Smith’s RBI single in the seventh pulled the Dodgers to within 6-5 and led to loading the bases.
However, Max Muncy and Alberto were retired on fly balls that weren’t deep enough for Freddie Freeman to tag, and Bellinger went down swinging to end the threat.
Freeman collected his fourth hit of the game with a leadoff home run in the ninth inning, but rather than tying the game the Dodgers still faced a deficit due to David Price allowing a run in the eighth.
Roberts surprised by Dodgers All-Star Game snubs
While Mookie Betts and Turner were voted All-Star Game starters by fans, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was surprised only Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin were named to the National League roster when reserves and pitchers were announced.
Roberts had anticipated Freeman, Smith and Julio Urías would be added as well rather than being among All-Star Game snubs.
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