The latest reason for optimism from the Los Angeles Dodgers is that the final month of the regular season has arrived, although the expected sense of urgency that was supposed to go along with it has yet to develop.
The Dodgers (82-56) have struggled to score runs and put up consistent at-bats for two months, although they still remain in reach of the best record in the majors even as the St. Louis Cardinals earned a 13-8 victory on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series between the teams in Los Angeles.
The Cardinals (69-70) matched a season high with five home runs, including two from Thomas Saggese.
Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.56 ERA) will look to stifle the St. Louis bats in the second game of a three-game series Wednesday. The Cardinals will go with a bullpen game, although manager Oliver Marmol was still not set on who would start, even after Tuesday’s victory.
While the Cardinals added a pair of first-time major leaguers to their expanded roster Tuesday, the Dodgers brought back proven players — catchers Will Smith and Dalton Rushing and left-hander Justin Wrobleski, who were on the injured list. They also recalled infielder Alex Freeland.
It didn’t matter. Smith had two RBIs in his return but Tuesday’s game was never in doubt after the Cardinals led 7-0 in the third inning.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts continues to insist his veteran team will find a flow over the next month.
“I think that the guys can see the finish line,” Roberts said Monday. “I think that we’ve played a lot of baseball, like everyone has. For me, it’s just honing in on the mental mistakes. Throughout the year, there’s been some baserunning and then some empty at-bats that we got to get better at, whether it be non-situational, situational and just tightening some things up because we got to get better.”
Yamamoto has been at his best over the past month and a half, pitching to a 1.90 ERA over his last seven starts. He has been even better in two career starts against the Cardinals by not allowing a run over a combined 11 innings. He did not factor into the decision in either game.
The Cardinals added catcher Leo Bernal and right-hander Hancel Rincon to their roster Tuesday. Bernal made his MLB debut and his first hit was a two-run single with the bases loaded in a five-run third inning.
Bernal, ranked as the Cardinals’ No. 7 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, is expected to play a considerable amount over the final month.
“We want him to get a real taste of it, going into his offseason, of understanding the pressures and preparation and communication and what this is all about, so that there’s not a guessing as to how to prepare, like he knows exactly what he’s able to perform,” Marmol said before Tuesday’s game. “The only way to do that is to play him a decent amount.”
Tuesday’s victory was the start of a key nine-game road trip for the Cardinals, who moved within four games of the final wild-card spot in the National League on a night when Ramon Urias, Jordan Walker and Joshua Baez also hit home runs.
Saggese had the first multi-homer game by a Cardinals player at Dodger Stadium since Albert Pujols hit Nos. 699 and 700 of his career in 2022. It was also the most runs the Cardinals scored in a game ever at that ballpark.
The Dodgers remain 9 1/2 games up on the San Diego Padres in the NL West.
–Field Level Media
