The Cardinals used a big game from Adam Wainwright and good defense to move a game within a sweep with a 2-0 win over the Dodgers. It's the 10th time already this season the Dodgers have been blanked.
With temperatures in the 90s, both Hiroki Kuroda and Wainwright put in great efforts for six innings. Kuroda gave up four hits, one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Wainwright surrendered five hits, no runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.
The game was scoreless through three innings, though both teams had chances. The Dodgers got singles from James Loney and Blake DeWitt to open the second, but ultimately had Xavier Paul hit into an inning ending double play. The Cardinals had two men in scoring position with one out in the third, but Colby Rasmus and Albert Pujols couldn't deliver.
In the fourth, however, the Cards came through. Matt Holliday singled leading off, and Jon Jay forced him out at second. Yadier Molina singled for runners on the corners and one down. Skip Schumaker hit an RBI double for the 1-0 lead.
Little did everyone know at the time that that's all the Cards would need on this day. The only other threat the Dodgers put forth was in the sixth. Rafael Furcal doubled to lead off. Matt Kemp flied out, but Raffy tagged to third. Andre Ethier walked, and the Dodgers looked to have a good thing going.
In hindsight, that walk would prove to be a bad thing. Loney has been great in RBI situations this year, but not this time, as he grounded into an easy double play. A walk to Ethier in the ninth is the last baserunner the Dodgers would get.
This loss was certainly no fault of Kuroda. He shook off some very hot conditions and pitched great. He just didn't get any help. The first inning was an indication that he was locked in, as Felipe Lopez hit a leadoff double, but the next three struck out.
Hong-Chih Kuo worked an inning in the seventh. Maybe still feeling a bit of a hangover from a shaky first All-Star appearance, he walked two. But he also got a flyout and two lazy pop-ups to the infield for no runs.
Jeff Weaver is the one who gave up the second run in the eighth. The bases got loaded on a walk to Pujols, a single by Holliday, and an intentional pass to Molina. A sac-fly RBI by Brendan Ryan brought in Pujols.
Wainwright is a fantastic pitcher, but the Dodgers did hang a loss on him back on June 9 in Dodger Stadium. It's a shame they wasted a bounce back performance from Kuroda, who was lousy his last three starts. Kyle McClellan, Trever Miller, and Ryan Franklin were the other pitchers they couldn't figure out.
Of course, with the way the Dodgers failed in any clutch hitting situation, it didn't matter how good the pitching was. Both Paul and Loney hit into double plays to end innings. The team was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring positions, with Casey Blake going 0-for-3. That obviously won't get it done.
The effort was better, but that was only because of Kuroda. The offense has still been in hibernation since the break. Five runs, three games, three losses. It's as simple as that.
For the first time this series, the Dodgers will have a clear pitching advantage in Sunday's finale. Vicente Padilla has been awesome since coming back from injury. He'll face Jeff Suppan, who is somehow still a starting pitcher despite being 0-5 with a 6.59 ERA. If the offense is ever going to wake up, this is the time.
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