Dodgers don’t need the long ball to finish sweep of Cardinals
A Dodgers lineup that ranks second in the major leagues with 47 homers took a swing shift on the assembly line Sunday, manufacturing four runs with productive outs and one with a wild pitch in a 6-3 victory to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in Chavez Ravine.
A sellout crowd of 52,304 saw the Dodgers get outhit 10-7 and go one for 15 with runners in scoring position, but they drew eight walks, stole three bases and put the ball in play with runners on third and fewer than two outs.
“Get ‘em over, get ‘em in — that was nice,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “You can’t always win games by hitting home runs. [Saturday night] it was Clayton [Kershaw] being as good as he was. Then today, we scored runs in a different way. The last 10 days, we’ve been playing better baseball.”
Dodgers defeat St. Louis Cardinals for series sweep
⚾ Dodgers 6, Cardinals 3 — FINAL
Top of the ninth: Evan Phillips took over on the mound and gave up a one-out single to Dylan Carlson. Brendan Donovan then hit into a 3-4 double play to end the game and give the Dodgers a three-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Noah Syndergaard, who allowed three earned runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, earned his first win as a Dodger. David Peralta drove in two runs and Will Smith scored the go-ahead run on a wild-pitch in the fifth inning.
The Dodgers continue their homestand Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodgers extend their lead in the eighth inning
⚾ Dodgers 6, Cardinals 3 — End of the eighth inning
Top of the eighth: Yence Almonte oversaw a 1-2-3 inning, with Nolan Gorman and Willson Contreras popping out and Nolan Arenado striking out.
Bottom of the eighth: Chris Taylor hit a one-single to left off Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos, then stole second. Mookie Betts then walked and the Cardinals pulled Ryan Helsley out of the bullpen. A wild pitch by Helsley allowed Taylor and Betts to advance to second and third, respectively.
The Cardinals intentionally walked Freddie Freeman and Will Smith flied out to center, giving Taylor plenty of time to score the Dodgers’ sixth run.
After Freeman stole second for his fourth stolen base of the season before Max Muncy flied out to center field.
Dodgers lead heading into eighth; baby-strapped man makes impressive catch
⚾ Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 — End of the seventh
Top the seventh: Brendan Donovan singled on a soft blooper to the third base side that was a bit too much for a charging Max Muncy to handle. Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia then struck out Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbar. Brusdar Graterol took over on the mound and got Paul Goldschmidt to ground out.
Bottom of the seventh: Max Muncy grounded out to short and Trayce Thompson struck out. James Outman followed with a single to center, prompting the Cardinals to replace JoJo Romero with reliever Giovanny Gallegos to face Miguel Vargas. Outman picked up his fourth stolen base of the season a pitch before Vargas flied out to right for the third out.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the inning came when a man with a baby strapped to his chest and holding a beer made a standing, one-handed grab on a foul ball off the bat of Edman. The man received a hearty cheer from the Dodger Stadium faithful and seemed particularly impressed by his ballpark feat.
Dodgers hold on to 5-3 lead heading into the seventh
⚾ Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 — End of the sixth
Top of the sixth: Nolan Arenado singled before Willson Contreras hit into a force out at second. Caleb Ferguson then replaced Dodgers starter Noah Syndergaard. Tyler O’Neill flied out to right and Ferguson struck out Dylan Carlson to cap the frame.
Syndergaard allowed eight hits and three earned runs, with no walks or strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in search of his first win as a Dodger.
Bottom of the sixth: After Mookie Betts grounded out to third, JoJo Romero relieved Drew VerHagen. Freddie Freeman and Will Smith then grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Dodgers are leading despite being out-hit 8-5.
Dodgers re-take lead in the fifth amid Cardinals pitching issues
⚾ Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 — Fifth inning
Top of the fifth: Noah Syndergaard immediately runs into problems, giving up a double to Tommy Edman. Lars Nootbar then drove in Edman on a single to right, tying the game. Paul Goldschmidt provided some relief for Syndergaard by hitting into a 5-4-3 double play.
Bottom of the fifth: Will Smith doubled off Cardinals reliever Zack Thompson before Max Muncy drew a four-pitch walk. Jason Heyward then walked to load the bases with zero outs. Thompson struck out James Outman.
Drew VerHagen then took over on the mound for the Cardinals and immediately was dinged with a pitch-clock violation for taking too long to warm up. A wild pitch by VerHagen that nearly took off Miguel Vargas’ head, brought in Will Smith for the go-ahead run. David Peralta then plated Muncy on a force out to second. Chris Taylor then struck out to end the frame.
Dodgers take lead on Chris Taylor’s run-scoring double
⚾ Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2 — Fourth inning
Top of the fourth: Willson Contreras led off with a single to left before Alec Burleson popped out to Max Muncy at third. Right fielder Mookie Betts bobbled and dropped a fairly routine fly ball off the bat of Dylan Carlson but got the force out at second when Contreras pulled up thinking Betts would make the catch. Chris Taylor then made a nice spinning throw to first on a grounder from Brendan Donovan for the third out.
Bottom of the fourth: Jason Heyward and James Outman led off with back-to-back walks against St. Louis starter Jake Woodford. Cardinals first baseman Brendan Donovan then made a spectacular diving stop on a laser hit by Miguel Vargas. David Peralta followed with a ground out to second that plated Heyward from third.
Chris Taylor then put his recent woes at the plate behind him by smacking a run-scoring double down the left-field line. Mookie Betts then drew a 10-pitch walk from Woodford, prompting the pitcher’s exit in favor of reliever Zack Thompson. Freddie Freeman grounded out to end the inning.
Dodgers fail to capitalize on opportunities in the third
⚾ Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1 — End of the third
Top of the third: Lars Nootbar grounded out to first before Paul Goldschmidt smoked a grounder past a diving Miguel Vargas for a single. Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado flied out to leave Goldschmidt stranded. After a shaky second, Noah Syndergaard looked a bit more comfortable. He’s at 44 pitches, with 27 strikes.
Bottom of the third: Chris Taylor, who struck out four times Saturday, flied out to shallow right to start the inning. Jake Woodford struck out Mookie Betts before Freddie Freeman hit a liner up the middle just beyond the gloves of Woodford and a diving Nolan Gorman for a single. Will Smith then was hit by a pitch before Max Muncy lined out to center, stranding a pair of runners.
Cardinals strike first with a two-run second inning
⚾ Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1 — End of the second inning
Top of the second: Nolan Arenado grounded out to second. Willson Contreras then singled to left and Alec Burleson doubled to left. Dylan Carlson then drove in Contreras from third on a sacrifice fly to center field, beating James Outman’s throw to Will Smith at the plate. Brendan Donovan followed with a single to left to score Burleson. Tommy Edman flied out to cap the frame.
Noah Syndergaard has allowed two runs on three hits over 27 pitches as he searches for his first win as a Dodger.
Bottom of the second: Jason Heyward hit the Dodgers’ second leadoff double of the afternoon, pulling the ball deep into right field before just beating Lars Nootbar’s throw to second. After James Outman grounded out, Heyward scored from third on a grounder to short by Miguel Vargas. Another groundout to short by David Peralta ended the inning.
Noah Syndergaard retires the Cardinals in order
⚾ Cardinals 0, Dodgers 0 — End of the first
Top of the first: Dodgers starter Noah Syndergaard retired the Cardinals in order — Lars Nootbar grounded out and Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman each flied out.
Bottom of the first: Mookie Betts doubled into deep center field off Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford. Freddie Freeman then struck out, Will Smith grounded out and Max Muncy flied out to the warning track in right field.
Lineups set for Dodgers vs. Cardinals finale
Lineups are set for the Dodgers versus Cardinals series finale starting soon at Dodger Stadium.
The Cardinals also offered a pregame salute to legendary longtime radio voice Mike Shannon, who has died.
Dodgers want rookie Michael Busch to learn from Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado
School was in session Saturday night, with St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, serving as the teacher, Dodgers rookie infielder Michael Busch as the pupil and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts as the guidance counselor.
Busch did not play in the first two games of the series, and he is not in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale in Dodger Stadium, but there was still an opportunity for growth for a 25-year-old who made his big-league debut last Tuesday after being called up from triple-A Oklahoma City.
At one point in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory over the Cardinals Saturday night, Roberts joined Busch on the top step of the third-base dugout, put his arm around the player and told him to watch the guy playing third base about 60 feet away.
“At that moment, I wanted him to appreciate Nolan Arenado and how he’s into every pitch, pre-pitch, the glove position,” Roberts said. “You know, he’s not fleet of foot, but he’s one of the best defenders, not only third basemen, in all of baseball. [Busch] has a front row seat to watch one of the best of all-time, so I just wanted him to see the little subtleties that Nolan does.”
Busch has drawn comparisons to Dodgers slugger Max Muncy because of his power potential from the left side and defensive versatility. Like Muncy, Busch plays first base, second base and third. Busch is not considered an elite defender at any of those spots, but watching a player like Arenado can only help.
“I think as a young player, as a veteran player, you’re always sort of caught up in watching your own teammates, but I think to be able to widen your scope a little bit, to watch other superstar players, it might land better,” Roberts said.
“It’s just kind of an opportunity to learn and get a PhD in how to defend, how to prepare, and so I do that all the time. I try to encourage guys not to miss those opportunities.”
Dodgers expected to call up pitching prospect Gavin Stone for MLB debut Wednesday
The Dodgers are planning to call up right-handed pitching prospect Gavin Stone to start on Wednesday in what would be his major league debut, according to a person with knowledge of the situation unauthorized to speak publicly.
Stone, 24, is the Dodgers’ fourth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and second-ranked pitching prospect behind triple-A teammate Bobby Miller.
A fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft out of the University of Central Arkansas, the 6-foot-1 right-hander burst onto the radar last year with a dominant campaign, going 9-6 with a minor-league-best 1.48 ERA over 26 outings between high-A, double-A and triple-A teams.
With a mid-90s fastball, a slider and a highly touted split-changeup (his best pitch), Stone parlayed his breakout 2022 into a strong performance this spring, earning high praise from members of Dodgers brass and manager Dave Roberts.
“There’s a lot of talk of Gavin,” Roberts said near the end of camp. “He’s opened a lot of eyes.”
After shaking off an up-and-down start to this season in triple-A Oklahoma City (12 earned runs in his first four outings), Stone rebounded in his last two games, pitching 4 2/3 shutout innings last week while giving up just one run in five innings on Thursday, recording 15 combined strikeouts in the process.
Stone, whose promotion was first reported by MLB.com, will now try to carry that over into his debut this week, when he’s expected to start against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ corresponding roster move wasn’t immediately clear, but possible upcoming paternity leaves among the pitching staff are believed to have contributed to Stone’s call up.
Roberts would not comment specifically on Stone’s expected promotion before Sunday’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals in Dodger Stadium, but when asked if there would be any adjustments to the rotation this week, he said, “Possibly.”
Roberts added that if there were changes to the rotation, it would be to give each starter an extra day or two of rest this week and not because one of them is injured.
Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.
Saturday recap: Clayton Kershaw dominates in win over Cardinals
Saturday night began with a pregame ceremony honoring Manny Mota, the former pinch-hitter extraordinaire, coach, broadcaster and community activist who became the sixth player selected as one of the Legends of Dodger Baseball.
The rest of the evening belonged to the legend currently inhabiting the Dodgers’ dugout and commanding the Chavez Ravine mound, Clayton Kershaw burnishing his Hall of Fame resume with seven innings of pure dominance in a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before an appreciative crowd of 48,763.
The 35-year-old left-hander retired the first 13 batters to kick off a seven-inning, two-hit, nine-strikeout, no-walk effort that improved the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner to 5-1 with a 1.89 earned-run average in six starts. The Cardinals entered with a major league-best .321 batting average against left-handers.
Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season. All times and broadcast/streaming options are subject to change.
