Friday’s Game Report: Dodgers 6, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
The last time the Cardinals played a Friday night game in Los Angeles that was televised exclusively on Apple TV, many fans missed out on watching Albert Pujols hit the 700th home run of his career.
Those who didn’t watch Friday night didn’t miss much.
The Cardinals offense had no answers for Los Angeles starte Bobby Miller, who struck out 11 in six innings. They finally broke out for three runs in the eighth inning but still lost their second game of the season.
Miller allowed just two hits as the Cardinals lost for the seventh consecutive time at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers hit four home runs, three off Zack Thompson, to cruise to the victory. The Cardinals have allowed a combined six home runs in the first two games.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Miller struck out seven of the first 10 hitters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until Nolan Gorman singled with two outs in the fourth. The only hit off Miller was a single by Masyn Winn in the sixth … With Miller out of the game, the Cardinals were able to combine Winn’s second hit of the night, an infield single, a hit batter and a walk to load the bases in the eighth before Gorman doubled in two runs. Nolan Arenado followed with a sacrifice fly … Willson Contreras and Victor Scott II each struck out three times as the Cardinals finished with 14 strikeouts.
On the mound: Thompson and two relievers managed to hold Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hitless, but Mookie Betts homered leading off the bottom of the first inning off Thompson and Teoscar Hernadez hit a pair of homers … The final LA homer came from Miguel Rojas off Giovanny Gallegos.
Key stat: Miller became only the third Dodgers righthander to strike out 11 or more Cardinals in a game at Dodger Stadium, joining Chad Billingsley in 2011 and Don Sutton, who struck out 12 in a game in 1973.
Worth noting: Sonny Gray and Lars Nootbaar took steps forward on Friday in their quests to return to the Cardinals. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters in Los Angeles that Gray threw three simulated innings in Florida and Nootbaar took eight at-bats. Nootbaar will play in a simulated game on Saturday and then could join Memphis on a rehab assignment. Gray is expected to start for Memphis on Wednesday night in Indianapolis, which would put him in line to make his Cardinals debut on April 9, when he is eligible to come off the disabled list.
Up next: Lance Lynn is scheduled to start on Saturday night, his first start for the Cardinals since Sept. 28, 2017. There is a forecast for rain in the Los Angeles area, however.
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