Cardinals Help Dodgers Win

Things weren’t going well for the Dodgers against the St. Louis Cardinals until Shawon Dunston provided a helping hand.

The Dodgers seized the opportunity, capitalizing on the Cardinal third baseman’s perplexing error that led to a seven-run seventh inning in a 7-3 victory Friday night at Busch Stadium.

With the bases loaded and a run already in, Dunston threw to third base while no one was covering, enabling the Dodgers to score twice to take a 3-1 lead. They never looked back, scoring four more runs to take command before a stunned crowd of 48,036--the largest here this season.

Dunston’s blunder provided the break the Dodgers needed after Cardinal starter Jose Jimenez had limited them to only two singles through six innings.

Dunston also ran into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, losing track of how many outs the Cardinals had made.

His loss was the Dodgers’ gain as they improved to 20-15. Kevin Brown (4-2) made another quality start--his sixth in eight outings--giving up only one run in seven innings.

Setup man Alan Mills had a rough time after relieving Brown in the eighth, giving up three hits, including a two-run home run to Ray Lankford, and two runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Closer Jeff Shaw got the final two outs, preserving the victory for Brown in the opener of the three-game series.

Mills’ outing aside, Manager Davey Johnson was pleased by the outcome because of the Dodgers’ magnificent seventh.

Deservedly, he credited Dunston with an assist.

“Ah, that helped,” Johnson said of Dunston’s key error. “Two out, the pitcher up, he walks on four straight pitches and then . . . boom! We score seven runs. It’s a funny game.”

It wasn’t so amusing to Dunston and the Cardinals (17-17).

Jimenez (2-4) was cruising, getting two out in the seventh before giving up back-to-back singles to Todd Hollandsworth and Mark Grudzielanek. Then Jimenez walked Brown on four pitches with Eric Young on deck, and Dunston would soon wish he could become invisible.

Dunston, who started at third Friday because everyday third baseman Fernando Tatis is among several Cardinals suffering from flu, fielded a slow roller hit by Young about halfway between third and the plate. Dunston didn’t have a play on the speedy leadoff batter, enabling Hollandsworth to score from third and tie the score, 1-1.

Then for reasons Dunston couldn’t adequately explain, he turned and threw toward third.

The ball went down the left-field line, Grudzielanek and Brown scored, and Young advanced to third.

“I was over-thinking,” said the 14-year veteran, who singled in four at-bats.

“I was just trying too hard to make the play.”

Said Johnson: “He had the guy [Grudzielanek] if somebody was there.”

From that point, things turned really ugly for the Cardinals.

The Dodgers then got four consecutive hits against Jimenez and reliever Clint Sodowsky, sending 11 batters to the plate in the inning. With Brown on the mound, the Cardinals were done.

The Dodger staff ace worked a perfect seventh before stepping aside for Mills, giving up five hits. The Cardinals scored their run against Brown in the second on Eli Marrero’s one-out, run-scoring single, taking a 1-0 lead.

Brown struck out seven and walked three while throwing 106 pitches, including 72 for strikes. The right-hander lowered his earned-run average from 2.96 to 2.75.

Johnson said he never considered removing Brown for a pinch-hitter in the seventh with two on and two out.

“Anybody else, but not Kevin,” Johnson said. “He’s my ace and I was going to give him every chance to win.”

Fortunately for Brown and the Dodgers, Dunston did his part.