The St. Louis Cardinals did not forget to ship their bats to Dodger Stadium as they began their west coast trip Tuesday night. I know this because the sound of Cardinals bats hitting balls was everywhere in Los Angeles as they hammered the Dodgers mercilessly, but LA didn’t roll over and just let the Cardinals walk off with the game either.
The Cardinals offense announced its presence in the top of the 2nd inning when Ramón Urías and Thomas Saggese hit back-to-back homers to give St. Louis an early
2-0 lead.
The top of the 3rd inning was even more fun for the Cardinals. José Fermín led off with a single to left and then stole second base. He scored the Cardinals third run when Ivan Herrera singled to center making it 3-0 St. Louis. Jordan Walker then singled giving the Cardinals runners at first and second with nobody out. After Alec Burleson flied out to left, Joshua Baez was barely grazed on his elbow guard by a pitch which loaded the bases for Leo Bernal making his Major League debut Tuesday night. He showed everyone why he’s now in the big league lineup as he lined a solid two-run RBI single to left-center scoring both Walker and Herrera and giving the Cardinals an impressive 5-0 lead.
Thomas Saggese followed that with a sacrifice fly to left scoring Baez making it 6-0 Cardinals and they weren’t done yet. When Nathan Church reached on an infield single, a hustling Bernal scored before Urias was tagged out at third which gave St. Louis a commanding 7-0 lead.
The Dodgers reminded the Cardinals their work wasn’t done in the bottom of the 3rd inning when they scored 3 runs on a play that St. Louis blundered. With the bases loaded, Mookie Betts lifted what looked like an inning-ending pop-out to right, but Jose Fermin and Jordan Walker nearly collided trying to catch it as the ball bounced away from them scoring all runners cutting into the Cardinals lead at 7-3 after 3 innings.
Fortunately, the St. Louis Cardinals answered back quickly as Ivan Herrera drew a walk in the top of the 4th inning. He was able to walk home when Jordan Walker launched a 97 mph fastball that sounded like a cannon coming off of his bat traveling 409 feet into the centerfield seats for a 2-run blast upping the Cardinals lead back up to 9-3. BOOM!
Thomas Saggese must have been binging carbs before Tuesday night’s game as he came up in the top of the 5th inning and went yard AGAIN catching a 91 mph four-seam fastball just right as it soared barely above the right field wall in Dodger Stadium for a 10-3 Cardinals lead.
If only the Dodgers had complied with out wishes and just conceded the game, but alas it was not to be as they drew a little closer in the bottom of the 5th inning when Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single. Two batters later after Freeland grounded into a fielder’s choice, Shohei Ohtani slapped a single to center. Then, two batters later Mookie Betts ripped a double down the left field line which scored Freeland which made a 10-4 Cardinals. Fortunately, that’s all LA would get in the 5th.
With all of the wild offense, Michael McGreevy was having a pretty decent effort on the mound. Truthfully, he probably deserved a better result than he ended up with as he should have been out of the bottom of the 3rd if Fermin and Walker had better communication. However, his stat line still wasn’t bad for a game against the Dodgers lineup. 5 innings pitched allowing 5 hits, 4 earned runs striking out 4 and walking 2. Not an ace performance, but solid. Luis Gastelum took over in the bottom of the 6th inning and he pitched out of a jam – barely. The Dodgers ended up with runners at first and third with just one out, but Luis was saved by some nice glovework from Urias at third who snagged a hot line drive and then Nathan Church caught the final out of the inning with his back up against the centerfield wall.
Have I mentioned the Cardinals brought their bats to California? Joshua Báez put his to good use in the top of the 7th inning when he launched a 96 mph four-seam fastball 404 feet into the left-centerfield seats for a solo blast and a 11-4 Cardinals lead.
The Cardinals bullpen merry-go-round landed in Justin Bruihl’s spot for the bottom of the 7th inning. He drew the ire of the crowd by plunking Ohtani with a pitch and then two batters later nearly clipped Betts who he ended up walking giving the Dodgers two on with just one out. That earned him a place on the bench as manager Oli Marmol brought in Ryan Fernandez in relief to keep the Dodgers at bay. He struck out Rushing, but then gave up a single to Will Smith scoring Ohtani and whittling down the Cardinals lead to 11-5. Fernandez finally was able to get Kyle Tucker to fly out to end the Dodgers 7th.
The Cardinals made it an even dozen in the top of the 8th inning with several assists from the Dodgers. Their first contribution was a walk to Thomas Saggese. Second gift was an errant throw when Nathan Church hit a dribbler to the left side of the infield and the ball was thrown way over first base. Final gift was a wild pitch that scored Saggese to up the Cardinals lead to 12-5. José Fermín isn’t superstitious as he lifted a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Church making it 13-5 St. Louis.
Other than a solitary walk, Ryan Fernandez handled the Dodgers in the bottom of the 8th with no real drama. The Cardinals were unable to add to their tally against position player pitcher Hernandez in the top of the 9th inning, but that wouldn’t matter as long as our bullpen didn’t allow something outrageous in the bottom of the 9th inning. Cade Winquest was given that responsibility. He promptly gave up a line drive single to right by Enrique Hernandez and then walked Betts. Fermin then muffed a ground ball allowing Feduccia to reach first loading the bases with nobody out for LA. A ground ball up the middle from Will Smith that should have probably been a double play ended up being just a force out at second as the throw to first was in the dirt allowing the Dodgers to score a run, but who cares because it’s still just 13-6, right? The slumping Kyle Tucker who was hitless on the night was up next. He flied out to left to Victor Scott II for the second out which scored another Dodger run making it 13-7. Former Cardinal Tommy Edman then ripped a single to right scoring ANOTHER run for the Dodgers edging unnervingly closer at 13-8. Teoscar Hernandez mercifully made the final out of the game, but I have a sneaking suspicion that those arms who had to warm up in the bullpen in the bottom of the 9th will come back to haunt us later on this west coast road trip. Far be it from me to complain about an overall dominant Cardinals victory, though.
It’s game 2 in Los Angeles as the Cardinals take on the billionaires Dodgers Wednesday night. LA will start Yoshinobu Yamamoto while the St. Louis starter is to be determined later. First pitch is scheduled for 9:10pm central time with the game broadcast available via Cardinals.tv.
