Cardinals rally late to steal series from Dodgers with 5-3 win

By MATT PIKE

The St. Louis Cardinals scored four unanswered runs on way to a late rally, stealing a series win from the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, winning 5-3 on a day where Shohei Ohtani threw his longest outing of the season since returning to the mound. 

Things didn’t start off great for the Cardinals as Ohtani retired the first six batters in order, but in the third inning St. Louis opened the scoring first as Jordan Walker opened the inning with a single, stole second base, and then scored on an RBI single by Brendan Donovan.  The Dodgers though in the bottom half of the inning took the lead as Ohtani backed himself up, blasting a two run home run to center field, his 39th of the season bringing home Alex Call after his leadoff double, giving Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Dodgers extended their lead as Andy Pages singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and stole third base.  But on the steal of third base, a throwing error by catcher Pedro Pagés allowed Pages to come home to score.  Trailing 3-1, the Cardinals were able to cut the lead to one in the sixth inning finally, Lars Nootbaar grounding out and driving in Iván Herrera after his leadoff walk.  

St. Louis did finally take the lead in the eighth inning behind a two run frame. Alec Burleson led off the inning with a single, then with one out Masyn Winn got on base as well with a single.  Yohel Pozo pinch hit, but flew out for the second out, but with two outs Jordan Walker came through delivering an RBI single, scoring Burleson to tie the game, but on a throwing error by third baseman Alex Freeland as Walker advanced to second, Winn ran home to put the Cardinals up 4-3.  

Lars Nootbaar extended the lead giving the Cardinals the lone run of insurance they needed in the ninth inning, adding the final run, an RBI double driving in Donovan after his leadoff single.  Riley O’Brien earned his first save, only walking Max Muncy late in the ninth to secure the Cardinals series win. 

JoJo Romero earned the win in relief, improving to 4-3 on the season, pitching one inning and giving up one hit and striking out one.  At the plate, Walker was 3-for-5 with a stolen base and one RBI.  Winn was 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. 

St. Louis is off on Thursday and will return to Busch Stadium on Friday to host Chicago.  Michael McGreevy (3-2, 5.08 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Matthew Boyd (11-4, 2.34 ERA) for the Cubs.  First pitch is at 7:15pm, coverage will begin around 7:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM). 

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.