Coming off a victory in the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to get their first three-game winning streak since mid-April.
Scott Kazmir tossed a 1-2-3 first inning, ending it with a strikeout of Matt Holliday on a full count. Carlos Martinez quickly became the latest Cardinals pitcher to be let down by his defense as Chase Utley reached on a Brandon Moss throwing error to open the bottom of the first.
However, Utley was quickly erased as Corey Seager hit into a double play. Justin Turner then grounded out to end the inning. In contrast to the Cardinals’ defense in the series, Yasiel Puig helped Kazmir out by making a diving catch to rob Yadier Molina of a one-out base hit in the second.
Kazmir again ended the inning with a strikeout, giving three through two scoreless innings. Adrian Gonzalez led off the bottom of the second with an infield single that may have rolled foul had Martinez not attempted to make the play.
Joc Pederson drew a one-out walk, but Martinez kept the game scoreless by getting Puig to ground into a double play. Jedd Gyorko led off the third with a base hit to left. He was removed from the bases on an Aledmys Diaz force out.
Martinez then hit a chopper to Seager that the shortstop was unable to make a play on, with his error leaving two runners on with one out. Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, but they were stranded as Kazmir took care of a slow roller toward third to end the inning.
Utley was hit by a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the third, then Martinez allowed a single to Seager. Turner was unable to capitalize with a runner in scoring position, grounding out to end the inning.
After Kazmir retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the fourth, Gonzalez led off the bottom half of the inning with an opposite-field solo home run to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
That was short lived as Seager committed his second error of the game, putting Gyorko on second base. Kazmir’s wild pitch allowed him to advance to third, and a Martinez sacrifice fly tied the game at 1-1.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Seager pulled a RBI single into right field. A Turner sac-fly and Gonzalez RBI groundout extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1 before Martinez could get out of the inning.
Kazmir needed all of five pitches to retire the Cardinals in order in the sixth. He then completed a seventh inning, setting a season high for longest outing this season.
Seager added a solo home run in the seventh, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 5-1. Kazmir kept that intact by throwing a scoreless inning in the eighth.
Kazmir allowed a two-run homer in the with two outs in the ninth, marking the end of the road for him. Kenley Jansen entered to close out the Dodgers’ 5-3 win.
