Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol speaks with the media on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, after a loss vs. the Dodgers at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas came out of his start with a lead in the sixth inning, but he handed the game to the bullpen with a slim margin for error against one of the most dangerous offenses majors.
The Los Angeles Dodgers pummeled reliever Andrew Kittredge and turned that into a game-changing five-run inning. The Cardinals cut their deficit to one run going into the final three innings, but they stranded the tying run on base twice after the sixth inning in a 7-6 loss to the Dodgers in front of an announced crowd of 38,485 at Busch Stadium in the first game of a three-game series on Friday night.
The Cardinals (60-62) have now lost five in a row, their longest such stretch since mid-May. They’ve fallen 10 games behind the NL Central Division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
The game marked the start of a 22-game stretch against playoff contending teams including the Dodgers (72-51), Brewers, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.
“You either step up to the challenge or you’re done,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of that stretch prior to Friday night’s game. “There’s no other way of looking at it. There’s no other way of talking around it. It’s super simple if you’re playing tough teams. Either you step up and do what you have to do or you go home early.â€
Mikolas (8-10) allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He did not walk a batter, and he struck out a season-high seven batters. Mikolas came out of the game with two runners on and two outs in the sixth inning.
Mookie Betts’ solo home run to start the sixth pulled the Dodgers within a run, but the Cardinals were still clinging to a 4-3 lead when Marmol replaced Mikolas with Kittredge. Mikolas had just given up singles to Gavins Lux and Will Smith, the second an infield single.
Kittredge gave up a game-tying RBI single to Miguel Rojas, the first batter he faced, and then Kevin Kiermaier belted a three-run home run as the Dodgers took a 7-4 lead. Kittredge made just his fifth career appearance in which he didn’t record an out.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth and pulled within a run, 7-6, thanks to RBI singles by Brendan Donovan and Pedro Pages.
Another lefty added to the mix
Prior to Friday night’s game, the Dodgers recalled left-hander Justin Wrobleski from Triple-A. Wrobleski, who made his major-league debut on July 7, appeared in just four MLB games prior to this weekend. He started Friday’s series opener, his first career start against the Cardinals.
The Dodgers placed right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who had been scheduled to start Saturday’s game, on the injured list with right elbow tendinitis. Wrobleski took Glasnow’s place on the active roster.
The Cardinals have struggled offensively against left-handed pitchers this season. They entered the day with the third-worst OPS against left-handed pitchers (.649) in the majors. They had just two left-handed hitters, second baseman Brendan Donovan and center fielder Victor Scott II, in their starting lineup against Wrobleski.
The left-hander allowed four runs on four hits, including three home runs, and two walks in five innings.
The Cardinals hit three home runs against an opposing starter for the fifth time this season. The previous four were Boston’s Brayan Bello, Houston’s Justin Verlander, Miami’s Roddery Munoz and Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach.
Almost a robbery by Scott
The Dodgers first run came on a solo home run by second baseman Gavin Lux to lead off the second inning. Lux’s deep drive to center field hung up in the air long enough for Scott to get to the warning track and time his leap as he reached above the outfield wall and had the ball in his glove for an instant.
However, Scott could not hold onto the ball and pull it back onto the field. The ball jarred free onto the grass berm behind the outfield wall for Lux’s eight home run of the season.
Mikolas hadn’t allowed a home run in his previous three starts.
After Will Smith struck out looking, Miguel Rojas doubled to left field, and he scored one batter later on Kiermaier’s single to right field. Outfielder Jordan Walker made a strong throw to the plate, but the short hop handcuffed the catcher Pages as the ball caromed past the plate as Rojas scored the game’s second run. Walker was charged a throwing error on the play.
Goldy gets Cardinals even, Winn grabs a lead
The Cardinals evened the score 2-2 in the bottom of the second with help from their veteran cornerstones Arenado and Goldschmidt.
Arenado drew a walk to start the frame. He fouled off a 3-2 pitch before Wrobleski threw ball four in the dirt. The next batter, Goldschmidt, swatted a 1-0 fastball from Wrobleski an estimated 377 feet into the home bullpen behind the right field wall for an opposite-field home run.
Goldschmidt’s 19th home run of the season snapped an 0-for-10 stretch, and it also pushed him past Yogi Berra and Carlos Lee on MLB’s all-time career home run list. Goldschmidt’s 359th career homer tied him with Johnny Mize for 88th in MLB history.
In the third inning, the Cardinals took a 3-2 lead on Winn’s 10th homer of the season. Winn lined a 2-2 cutter to left field. The missile came off Winn’s bat with an exit velocity of 108.8 mph and traveled an estimated 407 feet.
Winn became just the seventh Cardinals rookie with 10 or more home runs as well as 10 or more stolen bases. He joined Wally Moon in 1954 (12 homers, 18 steals), Ken Boyer in 1955 (18 homers, 22 steals), J.D. Drew in 1999 (13 homers, 19 steals), Kolten Wong in 2014 (12 homers, 18 steals), Harrison Bader in 2018 (12 homers, 15 steals) and Tommy Edman in 2019 (11 homers, 15 steals).
Pages displays prodigious power
The Cardinals lead increased to 4-2 on Pages’ fifth-inning solo home run. Pages, who batted .310 in July and 4 for 9 in his previous three games, blasted his third home run of the season on a 1-0 curveball from Wrobleski that stayed over the heart of the plate.
Pages’ homer, his first since June 16, traveled an estimated 462 feet. It marked the third-longest home run by a Cardinal in the Statcast Era (2016).
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol speaks with the media on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, after a loss vs. the Dodgers at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan…
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol takes the ball from relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge, right, after the Dodgers’ Kevin Kiermaier hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, at Busch Stadium.
Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II can’t hold on to a home run by the Dodgers’ Gavin Lux during the second inning Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, at Busch Stadium.