After splitting a four-game series with the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued with their stretch of facing recent postseason nemesis as they opened a three-game home set with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
Ross Stripling opened the game with a leadoff, which later led to runners on the corners with one out after a Matt Holliday single to center field on a hit-and-run. Matt Carpenter then scored on a slow Matt Adams grounder to third base that wasn’t turned for a double play due to Corey Seager’s throwing error.
Yadier Molina’s base hit again put runners on the corners, but Randal Grichuk grounded out to end the inning. Howie Kendrick, mired in a slump this season, was robbed of a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first on a leaping catch by Grichuk at the center field wall.
Michael Wacha then retired the next two batters faced, including getting a called strike three on Justin Turner to end the inning. Kolten Wong led off the second inning with a triple that hit off the top of the fence in center field.
However, Wong was subsequently caught in a rundown after Stripling fielded a grounder back the mound. Carpenter extended the inning with a two-out walk, but nothing came of it as Stephen Piscotty grounded out on the first pitch he saw.
The Dodgers benefitted on a pair of misplays from the Cardinals in the bottom of the second, resulting in Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig reaching with none out. Joc Pederson then battled back from being down 0-2 in the count to draw a walk that loaded the bases.
Trayce Thompson, making his first start since hiting Tuesday’s walk-off home run, muscled a broken-bat two-run single to center that gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Some of their momentum stalled as A.J. Ellis lined to into a double play.
CONTINUE READING: Cardinals commit multiple errors, Kendrick and Puig help add to lead
Stripling earned some bragging rights over his former college teammate and roommate with a two-out single to right field. The hit came back to haunt Wacha as Kendrick followed with a RBI single that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
Stripling retired the first two batters faced in the third inning on just three pitches. Molina was stranded at first base after pulling a two-out single into left field. Gonzalez dropped a flare double down the third base line with one out that landed just fair.
He came around to score on Pederson’s two-out double that hit off the left-center field fence. St. Louis cut into their deficit in the top of the fourth behind a Diaz solo home run. Some of that goodwill was undone in the bottom half of the inning as Diaz committed an error in the bottom half of the inning that allowed Stripling to reach with no outs.
After a Kendrick base hit, Turner flied out to deep right, allowing Stripling to tag and take third base. The Cardinals’ continued to hurt themselves as Carpenter’s throw to second base pulled Wong off the bag. Stripling scored on the play, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2.
Puig tacked on another run with a RBI single before Wacha managed to get out of the inning. A leadoff walk and Holliday single on a hit-and-run put runners on the corners with no outs in the fifth. Holliday then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Stripling managed to limit the Cardinals to just one run in the inning.
Diaz committed his third error of the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, allowing a run to score and the Dodgers to take a 7-3 lead. Wong led off the sixth with a broken-bat triple down the right field line.
Wong scored on a wild pitch, which was followed by a Diaz double that knocked Stripling out of the game. Adam Libertore came on and retired the two batters he faced. The ball was then handed off to Louis Coleman, who got a favorable called strike three to end the inning.
Puig added to his night by leading off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run off Tyler Lyons that carried a few rows back of the short fence in right field. Pedro Baez and Kiké Hernandez entered as part of a double switch with one out in the seventh, replacing Coleman and Thompson, respectively.
Baez put another scoreless inning in the books for the Dodgers bullpen by getting a fly out and strikeout. Baez then retired all three batters faced in the eighth. Joe Blanton issued a one-out walk and allowed a base hit in the ninth, which led to Kenley Jansen entering.
Jansen got Holliday to ground into a game-ending double play to earn a save in the Dodgers’ 8-4 win.