Cardinals Snuff Dodger Rallies and Win in 11th : Baseball: St. Louis prevails, 7-4, after L.A. had come back from 3-1 deficit in the eighth and 4-3 deficit in the ninth.

The Dodgers had a chance to regain first place for themselves and their sense of the dramatic Monday night.

But in a marathon against the St. Louis Cardinals, both chances disappeared in the 11th inning as quickly as 1-2-3. That was Rich Gedman’s batting average--.123--before he looped a run-scoring double into the left-field corner against Jay Howell to give the Cardinals the go-ahead run in an eventual 7-4 victory before 37,794 at Dodger Stadium.

In ending their three-game winning streak, the Dodgers remain in a first-place tie with the Atlanta Braves, who earlier had lost their third consecutive game.

And they remain in their second-half state of wonder. After all, they had come back from a 3-1 deficit in the eighth inning and a 4-3 deficit against the National League’s premier relief pitcher, Lee Smith, in the ninth.

Don’t they usually win those games?

Not this time. Howell (5-5) walked Jose Oquendo to start the 11th. Then he allowed the double to Gedman, a backup catcher who had entered the game one inning earlier.

Two outs later, Todd Zeile singled in a run and rookie Rod Brewer added a run-scoring single against Dennis Cook for a 7-4 lead.

Before that, the Dodgers had come up with an answer every time the Cardinals put them on the spot.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers had tied the score on Lenny Harris’ two-out, two-strike single up the middle against Smith.

That rally started when Dave Hansen led off with a pinch-double. Jose Offerman, a pinch-runner, moved to third on Mitch Webster’s bunt. Brett Butler then flied to left on a full-count pitch, setting the stage for Harris.

Harris’ single wiped out the Cardinals’ 4-3 lead, forged in the top of the ninth on rookie Ray Lankford’s sixth home run, a shot to center field.

It was the second run in two innings against relief pitcher Roger McDowell.

McDowell also helped the Cardinals to a 3-1 lead in the eighth by giving up three hits to the first five batters he faced in relief of Bob Ojeda.

Since joining the Dodgers in a trade with Philadelphia in July 31, McDowell is 2-3 with two saves and two blown saves.

The Dodgers had rebounded from the 3-1 deficit in the eighth on Darryl Strawberry’s run-scoring single and a double-play grounder by Eddie Murray, who is so hot lately he does something good even when he fails.

Harris started the inning against reliever Scott Terry with a single to center. Kal Daniels, showing signs of breaking out of his slump, was patient enough to draw a walk. In came former Angel Bob McClure, who had held left-handers to a .207 average this season.

But left-handed hitting Strawberry didn’t seem to notice, driving McClure’s second pitch to right field to score Harris and move pinch-runner Stan Javier to third. Javier scored on Murray’s grounder.

For a fourth consecutive night, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda worked the third base coaching box, exhorting not just the runners but also the crowd, waving his arms toward the field and then pumping his fists toward the crowd.

Ojeda also did his job, giving up two runs and five hits in seven innings. Since Aug. 7, which is about when the division race with Atlanta began to take shape, Ojeda has a 2.31 earned-run average in six starts. But the Dodgers have scored only seven runs for him during that time, barely one per game, leading to a 1-0 record with five no-decisions during that time.

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in their half of the second inning after Butler’s ill-fated lunge for a fly ball to shallow center field by Tom Pagnozzi.

Pedro Guerrero had started the inning by drawing a walk against Ojeda. Felix Jose drove a ball over Daniels’ head in left field for a double to move Guererro to third.

Pagnozzi, batting just .211 against the Dodgers in his career, then blooped a ball to shallow center field. Butler, who has made catches like this before, attempted to scoop the ball. It bounced underneath his glove and rolled toward the fence, allowing Guerrero and Jose to score while Pagnozzi ended up on second base.

The Dodgers countered with a run in their half of the second on third baseman Zeile’s 18th error of the season.

The Cardinals took advantage of Ojeda’s departure in the eighth innning to score a run against reliever McDowell on a single by Guerrero.

The most notable thing about the Dodgers’ offense before their eighth-inning rally was that it did not work.

They had runners on first and third with none out after scoring their run in the second inning . . . and yet did not score again.

They loaded the bases with one out in the sixth . . . and Gary Carter grounded into an inning-ending double play.

They put a runner on second base with two out in the seventh . . . and Butler grounded to second.

The best thing that happened to the Dodgers was that Cardinal starter Ken Hill was removed after six innings and 86 pitches. Hill, a right-hander, had a career 1.84 earned-run average against them.

It made no matter that Hill was making his first start since suffering elbow strain Aug. 10. Hill allowed only two hits in his five innings, retiring 12 of the last 13 hitters he faced while working out of a jam in a second inning that the left the Dodgers shaking their heads.

Strawberry started the second inning by drawing a walk, his fifth in four games. Murray extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single to right field, sending a hustling Strawberry to third base.

Carter, making a rare start against a right-hander because of Mike Scioscia’s sore right foot, then hit a hard grounder to third baseman Zeile. The ball bounced off Zeile’s glove and into shallow left field, scoring Strawberry and sending Murray to third.

That pulled the Dodgers to within 2-1 and, with none out, they seemed a sure bet to tie. It didn’t work that way.

Juan Samuel struck out, with Carter stealing on the play. Alfredo Griffin swung at Hill’s first pitch, popping it to shortstop Ozzie Smith. Ojeda grounded to Zeile to end the inning.