Monday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Dodgers 3
By Rob Rains
It was just one hit each from Marcell Ozuna and Jose Martinez, but they came at the exact right time for the Cardinals on Monday night.
Ozuna hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Martinez, starting in right field, singled in the tying run in the sixth as the Cardinals beat the Dodgers at Busch Stadium for their second win in a row.
The winning run scored later in the sixth on a wild pitch by former Cardinals’ reliever Joe Kelly.
Martinez has only three hits in 20 at-bats, but two of them drove in a game’s tying run.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Ozuna’s second home run of the season followed a walk to Paul Goldschmidt and a fielder’s choice by Martinez, who started in place of Dexter Fowler both because the Dodgers were starting a left-hander and as a way to give Fowler a day off … Paul DeJong followed the homer with a double but was left stranded and the Cardinals did not have another baserunner until Matt Carpenter led off the sixth with a single. Goldschmidt drew another walk before Martinez’s RBI single. Goldschmidt went to third when Ozuna hit into a double play and then scored on the wild pitch … After striking out only six times on Sunday, the Cardinals struck out just four times on Monday night, a new season low.
On the mound: At one point Monday night, starter Miles Mikolas had allowed as many hits – three – as he had hit batters. The three hit batters tied the Cardinals’ franchise record, last done by Carlos Martinez last season … The Dodgers jumped on Mikolas for two runs in the first inning before he retired 12 batters in a row before hitting a batter in the fifth, when the Dodgers scored their third run … Two of the hit batters came around to score … Mikolas worked through the sixth before John Gant pitched two innings and Jordan Hicks earned his second save in as many games, pitching around a one-out walk in the ninth.
Key stat: The Cardinals had two hits and scored twice in the first inning after getting just one hit in 22 at-bats in the first inning over their last seven games.
Worth noting: Alex Reyes made his first appearance for Memphis on Monday and walked two of the three hitters he faced. He also got a double play grounder, throwing 21 pitches, 10 of them for strikes … The Double A Springfield Cardinals get a nice challenge on Tuesday night as they will face the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, making a rehab start in Tulsa … The trickle-down effect of Yairo Munoz going down to Memphis sent infielder Evan Mendoza back from Triple A to Double A on Monday … Top prospect Nolan Gorman hit his first two home runs of the season and had five RBIs for Peoria on Monday night. He is hitting .476 to start the season … Former Cardinal Patrick Wisdom was called up from Triple A by the Texas Rangers on Monday … The Dodgers’ charter flight from Denver to St. Louis did not arrive at Lambert Airport until 3:09 a.m. after they played the Rockies on Sunday night baseball … Dodgers’ starter Hyun Jin Ryu had to leave the game in the second inning because of a groin strain. The last Dodgers starter to pitch less than two innings in a game in St. Louis was Orel Hershiser (1 1/3 innings) on June 24, 2000.
Looking ahead: Dakota Hudson will make his second start of the season on Tuesday night in the second game of the four-game series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
Post-Game Interviews: Mike Shildt, Miles Mikolas, Jose Martinez:
