The Los Angeles Dodgers began the final series on their nine-game road trip against a St. Louis Cardinals club that was on a four-game winning streak, and winners in five of seven since the All-Star break. Los Angeles entered play four games back of the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
Michael Wacha’s second start against the Dodgers this season got off on the wrong foot as Chase Utley opened the game with a double down the first base line. Then Corey Seager, who returned from a stomach virus that caused him to mis the last three games, lined an RBI single to center.
After Adrian Gonzalez drew a one-out walk, Howie Kendrick nearly padded the Dodgers’ lead and extended his hitting streak, but his fly ball was caught in front of the wall in right field. Yasmani Grandal then grounded out to end the inning.
Brandon McCarthy set the Cardinals down in order on an efficient 13 pitches in the bottom of the first. He followed that by throwing just six pitches in a 1-2-3 second inning.
Seager improved to 2-for-2 on the night with a one-out single in the third. Turner’s single then put runners on the corners with one out. However, Wacha worked his way out of the small jam by striking out Gonzalez and Kendrick.
Jedd Gyorko saw 11 pitches and drew a leadoff walk in bottom of the third to end McCarthy’s early bid for a perfect game. Wong, who hit into a force out, stole second base with two outs. Tommy Pham kept the inning alive by drawing a walk and it paid off as Aledmys Diaz hit a two-run single.
In reality, only one run should have scored but Joc Pederson bobbled the ball as he went to field. With two runners on and one out in the fourth, McCarthy’s sacrifice bunt attempt was thwarted by Yadier Molina as he threw out Grandal at third base.
Wacha jammed Utley with his first pitch to induce a groundout. McCarthy bounced back from a laborious inning to retire the Cardinals in order in the fourth inning. A Seager leadoff single in the fifth was erased on a Turner double play.
Wacha completed an eight-pitch, scoreless inning by getting Gonzalez to ground out. After McCarthy did his part to keep the Cardinals off the bases, Kendrick tied the game in the sixth with an opposite-field leadoff home run. The homer extended his Major League-leading hitting streak to 14 games.
Grandal singled and Van Slyke hit a ground-rule double but both runners were stranded by McCarthy and Utley. McCarthy remained efficient through the sixth, setting the Cardinals down in order on seven pitches.
Kevin Siegrist took over in the seventh and allowed a leadoff infield single to Seager. The four-hit game for Seager was the second this season. Kendrick drew a walk with two outs but Grandal followed with a strikeout.
The Dodgers at that point dropped to 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. McCarthy issued a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and was removed due to an apparent cramp in his right calf after throwing a first-pitch ball to Molina.
Adam Liberatore allowed an infield single to Gyorko on a slow dribbler up the third base line with two outs. A weird sequence then ensued when pinch-hitter Randal Grichuck hit a grounder through Liberatore’s legs but Utley was in perfect position to field it.
He began to run toward second base but made a late decision to throw to first, presumably out of the belief he wasn’t going to beat Gyorko to second. Gonzalez had already come off the bag and wasn’t able to recover in time.
The infield single loaded the bases, and they were left full as pinch-hitter Greg Garcia hit a broken-bat grounder to third. Andrew Toles reached on a pinch-hit infield single with two outs and Jonathan Broxton on the mound in the eighth.
Toles’ hit didn’t amount to anything as Utley struck out swinging and the game remained tied at 2-2. Pederson helped Joe Blanton’s cause with a terrific diving catch in right-center field to rob Pham of an extra-base hit.
Diaz took advantage of the Dodgers’ infield playing back by laying down a bunt single with one out. Stephen Piscotty’s fly out to the warning track in left field allowed Diaz to tag and move into scoring position, where he was stranded by Matt Holliday.
Seager’s streak of seven consecutive hits, spanning across two games, ended in the top of the ninth as he flied out. While Cardinals closer Seung Hwan-Oh solved that puzzle, he gave up a solo home run to Turner that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.
The home run was just the second Oh allowed this season. Kenley Jansen retired the first two batters faced in the bottom of the ninth before giving up a game-tying homer to Gyorko. The blown save was Jansen’s second on the road trip and fifth of the season.
Louis Coleman worked around a leadoff walk in the 10th and ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Matt Bowman retired pinch-hitter Chris Taylor in the 11th and was removed after 1.1 scoreless innings.
Left-hander Tyler Lyons, who was listed as the probable starter for Sunday’s game, replaced Bowman and retired Utley and Seager to end the inning. Grant Dayton, called up Thursday from Triple-A Oklahoma City, made his Major League debut in the bottom of the 11th.
All he did was retire Holliday, Matt Adams and Molina in order. Lyons matched Dayton’s effort, setting Turner, Gonzalez and Kendrick down in order in the 12th. Dayton grazed Garcia with a pitch to put the winning run on base with two outs, but ended the inning with a strikeout.
Grandal was pinch-run for by Austin Barnes after drawing a leadoff walk in the 13th. Pederson’s sacrifice bunt moved Barnes into scoring position with one out. Van Slyke hit back to the mound and pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig, suffering from hamstring tightness, fouled out.
Pedro Baez was pressed into emergency duty and he responded by retiring Diaz, Adams and Holliday in order, ending the inning by blowing a high fastball by Holliday. Molina reached on an infield single with one out in the bottom of the 14th.
Molina’s hit was the first for either side in extra innings. It didn’t amount to anything however, as J.P. Howell got out of the inning without issue. Bud Norris worked around a leadoff double in the 15th but then gave up a walk-off home run to Adams in the 16th.
