The Los Angeles Dodgers bulldozed their way into Busch Stadium, but concluded a four-game set in a bit of a rut. Adam Wainwright single-handedly lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a second consecutive win and series split.
The Dodgers managed to put runners on the corners with two outs in the second inning. Wainwright escaped the small jam by inducing Yasiel Puig into a force out. Wainwright then inflicted two-out damage on Brandon McCarthy and the Dodgers.
He clubbed a hanging breaking ball to left field, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. St. Louis threatened in the third, behind back-to-back singles from Stephen Piscotty and Jedd Gyorko.
A grounder resulted in Piscotty being caught in a rundown between third base and home plate, and McCarthy then struck out Paul DeJong to end the inning.
Cody Bellinger led off the fourth with a double, notching his first hit since the series opener. Chase Utley worked a one-out walk, though the Dodgers failed to capitalize. Brett Eibner pinch-hit for McCarthy following a Puig leadoff single in the fifth.
Eibner’s deep flyball to center field was tracked down by Dexter Fowler. Chris Taylor singled, only for the Dodgers to again strand a pair of baserunners.
McCarthy threw 85 pitches, allowed two runs on seven hits, and had six strikeouts to one walk over four innings. He was coming off six shutout innings in a start that was cut short due to tendinitis in his right knee.
Josh Fields issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, though got out of the inning unscathed on a sequence of a strikeout and stolen base attempt that resulted in Piscotty getting caught a rundown.
Sergio Romo and Grant Dayton combined to keep the Cardinals off the board in the sixth. Wainwright’s afternoon came to an end after six shutout innings. He scattered four hits, issued two walks, and had six strikeouts.
Matt Bowman erased a leadoff walk in the seventh of Austin Barnes by inducing an inning-ending double play. It was much of the same for the Dodgers in the eighth when Corey Seager grounded into a double play after Taylor worked a leadoff walk.
Adrian Gonzalez and pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal both struck out in the ninth inning and each was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Gonzalez’s came while he was chirping from the dugout, while Grandal was tossed immediately after striking out.
Seung-Hwan Oh converted his second save in as many games. The Cardinals bullpen held the Dodgers scoreless and to just one hit — an Utley single in the ninth — over the final three innings of a 2-0 victory.
