The St. Louis Cardinals entered Saturday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the best record at home: 19-5. The Dodgers meanwhile, entered the game with the worst road record in all of baseball: 7-12. And on top of that, on the road, including Friday’s loss, Los Angeles was riding a road shutout streak of an incredible 37 innings.
It was a streak that first place St. Louis looked to keep alive.
And while it extended to a Dodgers’ record 42 innings, Los Angeles defeated St. Louis 5-1 in rainy conditions in the Gateway City.
Rain prevented the game from starting at the original 6:15 start time, but at 8:35, the game was finally underway at Busch.
The match-up for the evening featured young stars Michael Wacha (7-0, 1.87) on the mound for the Cardinals, while the Dodgers had Carlos Frias (3-2, 5.34) on the mound for them.
In the first inning, despite allowing one walk, Wacha started off strong, including three strikeouts, first striking out Joc Pederson, then Adrian Gonzalez, and finally, Howie Kendrick. The bottom half of the first started with Kolten Wong reaching on a fielding error by Kendrick. Matt Carpenter followed that with a line drive single, putting two on for Matt Holliday. Both runners advanced as Holliday grounded out. Jhonny Peralta grounded out as well, but Wong scored, giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Randal Grichuk then stepped up with two outs and a runner on third, but grounded out as well, with the first inning over.
Andre Ethier led off the top of the second for the Dodgers, and flew out to Grichuk out in right field. Yasmani Grandal grounded out to bring up Scott Van Slyke, who also grounded out to end the inning. Frias held the Cardinals scoreless in the bottom half as well, as the teams headed to the top of the third with St. Louis ahead 1-0.
Wacha, as John Lackey did the night before, dominated the Dodgers, and through four innings, already had six strikeouts, as the scoreless inning streak on the road extended past 40 innings for Los Angeles.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Holliday extended his on-base streak to 44 straight games after a walk was issued by Frias. Both Wacha and Frias continued to pitch strong through the next couple of innings, and the Dodgers (who were formed in 1890) extended their scoreless road streak to 41 innings. Wacha, who continued to pitch great, allowed a double to Justin Turner in the top of the sixth, ending his no-hit bid. Turner, on a wild pitch, then advanced to third base.
With Gonzalez at the plate, he would advance to first on a hit-by-pitch after a long at-bat. With runners on first and third with one out, Kendrick singled to score Turner, ending the scoreless streak at 42 innings and tying the game. It was the first run in 17 innings that the Cardinals allowed to an opponent.
After getting another out while being over 100 pitches, Wacha allowed a three run home run to Grandal to put the Dodgers ahead 4-1 in the sixth, which was the last pitch he’d throw in the game.
Manager Mike Matheny then took Wacha out, and brought in Seth Maness to get the final out of the inning. The final line of the game for Wacha: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Maness faced Van Slyke, and struck him out to end the top of the sixth.
Mitch Harris entered the game in relief for Maness in the top of the seventh with the Dodgers ahead 5-1 still. Jimmy Rollins led off with a strikeout, while Frias singled on a bunt. Pederson followed with a single of his own. Turner then popped out, but Frias advanced to third. Gonzalez also popped out.
Frias, meanwhile, was still pitching in the bottom of the seventh, and, despite allowing a single to Yadier Molina, the Cardinals were shutout once again, trailing by four runs heading into the eighth. Harris remained on the mound to start the eighth inning, with Kendrick leading off with a single. Ethier followed that with a single of his own to put two on for Grandal, who Harris struck out.
In a substitution move, Alberto Callaspo replaced Van Slyke, and immediately made an impact, singling to right field, scoring Kendrick, as the lead for Los Angeles became 5-1. A lead that remained for the rest of the game.
The bottom of the ninth featured left hander Adam Liberatore entering in relief for the Dodgers to face the heart of the Cardinals lineup. Carpenter led off with a strike out, as Jason Heyward, who entered the game after Holliday left the game due to illness, came to the plate. Heyward lined a single to center field, bringing up Peralta. During the at-bat, Heyward stole second base. Peralta then struck out, with Grichuk coming up to bat with two outs. And Liberatore struck out Grichuk as well, ending the game, as the Dodgers defeated the Cardinals 5-1.
With the Dodgers win, the Cardinals enter Sunday’s rubber game with a 32-17 record, though they still maintain possession of first place in the National League Central. The 5-1 loss is the first loss of the year for Wacha, who is now 7-1 on the year.
Tomorrow, Carlos Martinez gets the start against Brett Anderson.
(AP Photo/Billy Hurst)
