Dodgers lose 11-7, swept by Cardinals

The Dodgers finally broke out of their offensive slump on Thursday, scoring seven runs and getting 10 hits. It wouldn’t be enough, as the Cardinals offensive would get the upper hand, winning the game 11-7 to complete the four-game sweep. For the Dodgers, it’s the first time they’ve been swept in St. Louis since 2010, which was also a four-game sweep.

The good

Thursday’s game will be remembered for the bad, but let’s take away some positives from the Dodgers’ performance.

First and foremost, as mentioned earlier, they broke out of their offensive slump. Prior to today’s game, LA had scored a total of five runs through the first three games. If you take away the first inning of the first game, it was two runs over 26 innings.

Enrique Hernandez continued his hot start to the season, hitting his fourth home run of the season, which gave the Dodgers a 7-4 lead in the third inning. To make things even better, he did so using Chase Utley’s bat.

David Freese had a great game, going 2-for-3, including a home run.

Finally, Walker Buehler hit his first career home run.

Unfortunately for Buehler, this would be the highlight of his performance.

The bad

It was an overall bad performance from Dodgers pitchers today, with the exceptions of Jaime Schultz and Dylan Floro.

Things fell apart quickly for Buehler on Thursday afternoon. Two consecutive walks, a single, and a hit by pitch would give St. Louis a run before an out was recorded. After a sacrifice fly, the Dodgers led by only one. With two outs in the inning, Buehler had a chance to leave with the lead. With runners on third and second, a wild-pitch would score both baserunners, giving St. Louis a 4-3 lead.

Buehler would only last four innings, allowing five runs on five hits. Through three starts, Buehler’s ERA on the season sits at 8.25.

Pedro Baez came on in relief, and was immediately greeted with three consecutive singles to load the bases. He struck out Jedd Gyorko, but promptly hit Harrison Bader with a pitch, cutting their lead to only one.

Matt Wieters then singled, giving the Cardinals an 8-7 lead. Needing only one more out to get out of the inning, Max Muncy misplayed a routine grounder at second, resulting in the Cardinals’ fourth run of the inning, giving them a two-run cushion.

Yimi Garcia would get the sixth, but a walk, double and wild pitch added two more runs for the Cardinals, giving them an 11-7 lead.

The Dodgers couldn’t get anything going the rest of the game, going 1-for-10 in the final three innings, and dropping their fourth consecutive game.

Thursday particulars

WP: Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 3 SO, 0 ER

LP: Pedro Baez (0-1) 1 IP, 4 R

Home runs: Enrique Hernandez (4), David Freese (1), Walker Buehler (1)

Up next

The Dodgers return home this weekend for a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. Julio Urias (0-0, 3.12 ERA) will get the start, as he’ll square off against Corbin Burnes (0-1, 9.90 ERA).

First pitch on Friday night is at 7:10 pm PT, and can be seen on SportsNet LA.