Dodgers waste opportunities in 16-inning loss to Cardinals

Seven innings after the Dodgers were one out away from a win, Matt Adams hit a walk-off home run against Bud Norris to give the Cardinals a 4-3 win, and another missed opportunity for Los Angeles.

The game lasted so long that Norris, a starting pitcher, entered the game in relief in the 15th inning, two days after his start in Washington D.C. and four days before his presumed scheduled start on Tuesday. He pitched a scoreless 15th and got the first out of the 16th before grooving one for Adams, who gave the Cardinals their fifth straight win.

At 16 innings, it matched the longest game between the Dodgers and Cardinals, and their longest since Aug. 21, 1963.

The Dodgers out-hit the Cardinals 14-8, and also walked three times. But they weren't able to translate that into many runs. The club tallied single runs in the first and sixth innings, but left a pair of runners on base in each of the first, third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

On the night, the club was 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 total runners on base. The Dodgers had one hit in extra innings.

The Dodgers used nine pitchers on Friday night, one day after also using eight pitchers on Thursday, though that game was a nine-inning affair. This is just the 36th time the Dodgers have used eight or more pitchers in a game dating back to 1913, and the first time during that span the club has ever done it in consecutive days.

The Dodgers fell to 5-6 in extra innings, including 4-5 on the road.

The game was nearly decided in the ninth inning, with both closers allowing home runs to the hottest power hitters in each lineup.

Justin Turner hit what was nearly a game-winner, a solo home run against Cardinals closer Seung-hwan Oh in the ninth inning, giving the Dodgers a brief 3-2 advantage.

For Turner, it was his third home run in two games, the highlight of his 2-for-7 game. Turner had eight home runs in June, and now has seven in July, with seven games remaining in the month. He has a .689 slugging percentage in his last 38 games, with 15 home runs and 39 RBI during that span.

The Cardinals have a red-hot hitter of their own in Jedd Gyorko, who homered into the left field seats against closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning, tying the game at 3-3.

Jansen blew his second save of the road trip, and fifth on the season.

Gyorko, the former Padre who tormented his old club earlier in the week, now has five home runs in his last five games. He was 2-for-5 with a walk on Friday night.

After throwing 23 pitches, Norris is still in line to start on Tuesday when the Dodgers return home.

Bud Norris can still go on Tuesday, Dave Roberts said.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) July 23, 2016

For starters

Brandon McCarthy pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in four starts since returning from the disabled list. He retired 11 straight before a one-out walk in the seventh inning, then fell behind 1-0 to Yadier Molina when catcher Yasmani Grandal summoned manager Dave Roberts and trainer Nate Lucero to the mound.

McCarthy had an apparent cramp in his right leg, and after Lucero tried to massage it away it was decided to remove McCarthy from the game after 6⅓ innings.

He allowed just one hit and struck out four with three walks, but McCarthy left with the game tied thanks to an untimely error and some untimely hitting by the Dodgers.

Quick start

Chase Utley doubled inside the first base line to open the game, then scored on a single by Corey Seager on just his second pitch seen since Sunday after missing three games with flu-like symptoms.

The Dodgers have scored 60 runs in the opening frame, their highest-scoring inning, and tied with the Cubs for the second-most first inning runs in the National League.

The club has scored in the first inning four times in seven games on this road trip, and won the previous three before falling on Monday.

Timely miscue

McCarthy didn't allow a runner to reach base until walking two in the third inning, including an 11-pitch free pass to Gyorko. Then with two outs in the inning, shortstop Aledmys Diaz delivered an RBI single of his own, and when Joc Pederson couldn't field the ball cleanly in left center field that allowed a second run to score, giving St. Louis the lead.

It was the first error by the Dodgers since July 8, snapping a span of eight straight games without.

Howie hitting streak

Howie Kendrick tied the score in the sixth inning with a solo home run to right field. It also extended Kendrick's hitting streak to 14 games,

Kendrick in July is hitting .382/.462/.588 in July with six doubles, two home runs and 12 runs scored in 17 games.

Welcome back

Seager followed that RBI single in the first inning with singles in the third, fifth and seventh innings, the latter of the infield variety. After missing three days with, as Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times put it, "vomiting profusely," Seager had his third career four-hit game, also accomplished last Sept. 12 and June 24 this year.

Combined with his three doubles in his final three at-bats on Sunday, the last game he played before Friday night, Seager had hits in seven straight at-bats, before flying out to start the ninth inning.

The franchise record for consecutive hits is 10, jointly held by Edward Konetchy for Brooklyn in 1919 and Andre Ethier for Los Angeles in 2012.

Impressive debut

Grant Dayton made his major league debut, and acquitted himself quite well. Staked with the task of facing the heart of a Cardinals lineup that leads the National League in runs per game in 2016 to start the 11th, Dayton retired six of his seven batters faced, with two strikeouts.

The only runner he allowed to reach base was Greg Garcia, who saw a baseball graze a portion of his jersey for a hit by pitch.

Dayton was the first Dodgers pitcher to throw two innings in extra innings in his major league debut since Tim Belcher on Sept. 6, 1987.

Up next

The series picks up again on Saturday afternoon, with both teams starting an hour earlier, at 4:15 p.m. PT. Kenta Maeda starts the middle game for the Dodgers, with Mike Leake getting the ball for St. Louis.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Howie Kendrick (5), Justin Turner (18); Jedd Gyorko (12), Matt Adams (11)

WP - Seth Maness (1-2): 1IP, 1 strikeout

LP - Bud Norris (5-9): 1⅓ IP, 2 hits, 1 run