Playing in front of a national audience on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time since May 2012. What’s more, the Dodgers entered play with their first three-game winning streak since mid-April.
Matt Carpenter nearly opened the game with a leadoff solo home run, but his deep fly ball was caught on the warning track in right field. Alex Wood then completed a scoreless first inning by inducing a pair of grounders.
Mike Leake retired Chase Utley and Corey Seager before allowing a two-out single to Justin Turner in the bottom of the first. Leake prevented the Dodgers from mounting a rally by striking out Adrian Gonzalez on three pitches to end the inning.
Aledmys Diaz hit a one-out single in the second inning. Nothing came of it as Wood retired the next two batters, including picking up his second strikeout in the frame. Howie Kendrick reached on a Carpenter error in the bottom of the second, and moved into scoring position on Yasiel Puig’s slow tapper in front of the mound.
Joc Pederson then grounded out to end another scoreless inning. Carpenter made up for nearly hitting a home run in the first inning by getting enough of a pitch for a solo shot with two outs in the third.
The Cardinals’ 1-0 lead didn’t hold up for long, as Seager hit an opposite-field home run with two outs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.
CONTINUE READING: Dodgers bullpen falters, Corey Seager hits second home run
