Wainwright shuts down Dodgers, Cards avoid sweep winning 5-0

Everything lined up for the Cardinals to win this game, Adam Wainwright pitched great, Yadier Molina went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and the Cardinals avoided the four-game sweep winning 5-0 over the Dodgers.

The loss puts the Dodgers a half-game behind the Rockies and in the race for the second wild-card, they are now tied with the Cardinals. The loss also meant the Cardinals won the season series 4-3 and that would give them home field should a play-in game have to take place.

But in the bigger picture, they left Los Angeles eleven days ago trailing the Rockies by 1½ games and they come back gaining a game on the Rockies. And in the second wild-card race, they gained two games on the Cardinals.

The Dodgers could not do anything with Wainwright. While he did give up a couple of hits and three walks, his curveball was working well and he got some nice called strikes to supplement his curveball.

The Dodgers had scheduled Ross Stripling to pitch on three-days rest and he might have escaped with only one run allowed but a wild pitch on a third strike allowed Yairo Muñoz to reach first base with no outs.

With one out and two on, Stripling allowed back-to-back run scoring singles from Judd Gyorko and Molina to make it 3-0.

Back in the second inning, Marcell Ozuna homered to give the Cardinals their first run.

But Wainwright was the story, the last time he pitched as many as six scoreless innings in a start was on June 1, 2017. That was also against the Dodgers in St. Louis.

In the seventh, Jordan Hicks worked around two on with no outs by striking out Yasiel Puig, getting Chase Utley to fly out and Alex Verdugo grounded out to second.

Hicks would end up pitching two scoreless innings and then Carlos Martinez came in to retire the side in the ninth.

One other thing, the Dodgers 23-game streak of hitting a home run ended tonight. That left them one game short of the Dodger franchise record set by the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers.

Up Next

The Dodgers return home for their final six games at Dodger Stadium. They will start with a three-game series against the first place Colorado Rockies tomorrow night. Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-3, 2.42 ERA) will go for the Dodgers while Jon Gray (11-7, 4.80) starts for the Rockies. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Sunday Particulars

Home Runs: Marcell Ozuna (22),

WP: Adam Wainwright (2-3): 6 IP, 2 hits, 9 SO, 3 BB

LP: Ross Stripling (8-4): 3⅓ IP, 3 Runs, 4 hits, 5 SO