Cardinals take series with 7-2 win over Dodgers
ST. LOUIS — Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna homered, Jack Flaherty tossed six effective innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 on Wednesday night.
The Cardinals have won four in a row and will try to sweep the four-game series Thursday. They have outscored their opponents 19-6 during the winning streak.
Max Muncy and Joc Pederson homered for the Dodgers, who have lost three straight after a five-game winning streak.
Paul DeJong had three hits and drove in a run with a triple in the sixth. DeJong extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games. He is tied with San Francisco’s Brandon Crawford for the longest current streak in the National League.
Flaherty (1-0) gave up three hits and one run in his 99-pitch effort. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. He has permitted one run over 11 innings in his last two starts.
Molina, who drove in three runs, homered off Kenta Maeda (2-1) in the sixth to push the lead to a 5-1. Ozuna, who had three hits, added a two-run drive in the eighth.
Maeda gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Pederson’s one-out shot in the sixth brought the Dodgers to 2-1. Los Angeles has gone deep in 11 of 13 games this season.
Paul DeJong after the @Cardinals defeat the #Dodgers for a third straight time: “Just trying to win series — that’s what we do. If we win every series, we’re gonna be pretty good at the end of the year.”
(Brought to you by your @MidAmericaChevy dealers.) #STLCards pic.twitter.com/oSa8ceMkP0— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) April 11, 2019
EVEN UP
The Cardinals and Dodgers have played each other 2,074 times since 1892. The series is even at 1,029-1,029 with 16 ties.
KERSHAW ON TRACK
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his season debut Sunday or Monday, according to manager Dave Roberts.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner, bothered by shoulder inflammation during spring training, completed his second effective rehab appearance Tuesday night for Double-A Tulsa against Springfield. He went six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
“He felt good coming out of it,” Roberts said. “He’s lined up for Sunday or Monday, whichever makes the most sense.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Placed C Russell Martin on the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation and recalled C Rocky Gale from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Gale was 2 for 6 with three runs scored at Oklahoma City. He went 0 for 2 as a September call-up last season.
Cardinals: Ozuna was in the starting lineup after he tumbled off the outfield fence while trying to catch a long drive Tuesday. Ozuna scaled the left field wall, but the ball came up short and he hit the warning track face first.
UP NEXT
Los Angeles RHP Walker Buehler (1-0, 6.75 ERA) will face RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 1.54) in the series finale Thursday afternoon. Buehler has not allowed a run in two career starts against St. Louis, yielding five hits over 15 innings with 18 strikeouts. Wacha walked a career-high eight in a 6-4 loss to San Diego on Saturday.
