The Dodgers scored three runs but couldn't cash in more in the first inning, then failed to capitalize on several scoring chances. They blew a late lead after Yoshinobu Yamamoto flirted with a no-hitter in his first start of September for the second season in a row. That helped get the game to extras, and the St. Louis Cardinals pounced with three runs in the 10th for an 8-6 win at Dodger Stadium.
Before Wednesday, the Dodgers were 5-0 in extras this season thanks in large part to stingy pitching. They allowed only one free runner to score in six total innings on just two hits. But the first three Cardinals in the 10th inning all got hits off Brock Stewart to plate three runs, capped off by a two-run double by Joshua Báez.
The rookie Báez didn't even start the game, but his leadoff double off Tanner Scott in the eighth inning was cashed in on two outs to tie the game. St. Louis never led until the 10th inning.
Yamamoto allowed multiple home runs for just the third time in 25 starts this season. Weirdly all three games have been at home, with three home runs by the Giants on May 12 and two by the Red Sox on August 1. Twelve of Yamamoto's 18 home runs allowed this year were hit at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto didn't even allow a hit until the sixth inning, but after José Fermín singled to break up the no-no, infielder Thomas Saggese spoiled things with a two-run home run. Saggese entered the series with one home run this season and four home runs in 435 career plate appearances. He now has three long balls in two games thus far against the Dodgers in this series.
Catcher Leo Bernal, serving as the designate hitter for St. Louis on Wednesday, added a two-run shot in the seventh for his first major league home run.
Even with the disturbances, Yamamoto's pitch count was still low, and he got through seven innings on 93 pitches. He completed seven innings for a 10th time this season, tied for third-most in the majors .
Yamamoto's four-seam fastball and splitter were especially working on Wednesday, finishing off six of his eight strikeouts on those pitches and inducing 14 swinging strikes on those two pitches alone. Even with the four runs on Wednesday, Yamamoto allowed only 14 runs over his last eight starts, with a 2.32 ERA since the All-Star break.
A walk and hit by pitch gave the Dodgers an instant rally to open the game, then one out later Freddie Freeman tattooed a ball over the left center field wall for his first home run since July 4, the early fireworks making for a quick 3-0 lead.
Freeman went 196 plate appearances in between home runs and 47 full games, the longest power drought of his career. Even without a home run, those 47 games were still somewhat productive for Freeman, who hit .315/.359/.371 with 10 doubles and a 102 wRC+ during the stretch, though well below his established norms.
Freeman on the night also walked three times and singled, the second time this season he's reached base five times, along with May 23 at Milwaukee .
This was a bullpen game for the Cardinals and Brycen Mautz had a tough go of things. He also allowed a popfly double to Miguel Rojas and walked two more batters to load the bases. Mautz escaped the jam without anything beyond the three runs Freeman plated, but then hit Ohtani to open the second inning. In all, Mautz retired only three of his 10 batters faced and was lucky to allow just the three runs.
Mookie Betts added a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, immediately answering the Saggese home run in the top of the frame. Betts has a nine-game hit streak.
The Dodgers, who hit two home runs all of last week on their road trip through Atlanta and Detroit, on Wednesday hit two home runs for the first time in 11 games, since August 19 at Coors Field.
Teoscar Hernández hit the ball hard all night, with four batted balls hit with triple-digit exit velocities. He got three hits out of it, including a one-out double in the ninth inning. But he was stranded when pinch hitter Will Smith smashed a ball to the wall in right center field for an out.
Freeman's home run was the Dodgers' only hit in 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Rojas made some fantastic defensive plays while Yamamoto still hadn't yet allowed a hit, thanks partially to him. First, Rojas had nifty timing in trying to execute a tag (the runner was called out of the baseline) while fielding a bounding ball then turned a double play out of it in the third inning. Rojas in the fourth turned things up a notch, with an extension to his far left to rob Bryan Torres of a hit, then on the next play went up the middle with a long throw to nail catcher Iván Herrera.
Home runs: Freddie Freeman (16), Mookie Betts (17); Thomas Saggese (4), Leo Bernal (1)
WP — Justin Bruihl (1-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout
LP — Brock Stewart (0-2): 1 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 1 strikeout
Sv — Riley O'Brien (35): 1 IP, 1 unearned run, 1 strikeout
Tarik Skubal hooks up with with Will Smith for the first time since the World Baseball Classic in the series finale on Thursday night ( 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA ), with rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews pitching for St. Louis.
