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They can’t win them all. And they can’t homer in them all.
The Dodgers lost their five-game winning streak and on Monday evening, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3. The loss also marked the end of their consecutive games with a home run streak, finishing with 10.
Los Angeles got off to an early lead, going up 2-0 in the top half of the first inning. But the Cardinals quickly responded with a two-run homer by Marcell Ozuna to tie the game.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, the starting pitcher on the mound for the Dodgers, would exit the game in the second inning with a left groin strain. He threw 34 pitches.
#Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu left the game with a strained left groin muscle. Same one he tore last May. Missed 3 months.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 9, 2019
The second, third and fourth innings didn’t see a runner on base for either team.
On the visiting side, Dylan Floro came in to pick up where Ryu left off, and he did not disappoint. Floro’s outing lasted 2 1⁄3 innings and he retired every single batter he faced. Scott Alexander followed this with a scoreless fifth inning.
The Dodgers, despite averaging more than eight runs a game this season, did not provide steady run support for their bullpen. Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas retired a total of 12 batters in a row before allowing two walks and a single to enable the Dodgers to get ahead, 3-2.
The sixth inning is where it went wrong. Joe Kelly came in with a runner on first with no outs. He proceeded to walk the next batter and followed up by giving up a single to Jose Martinez that drove in a run to tie the game at three. The Cardinals would get ahead after Kelly threw a wild pitch.
The offense failed to produce any more runs in the remainder of the game, holding the 4-3 score to the finish. A total of five hits on Monday night is a season-low for the Dodgers. The Dodgers are now 8-3.
Player of the game
Dylan Floro pitched for the team after the injury to Ryu. He retired all the batters he faced — seven up, seven down. He recorded two strikeouts and no walks.
Other notes
Ryu will be put on the injured list after experiencing a left groin strain on Monday night’s game. As of now, it is unclear who will take his position in the starting rotation.
Roberts said #Dodgers will promote a reliever to take Ryu’s spot. Consideration was given to activating Kershaw but he will still make rehab start for Tulsa Tuesday
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 9, 2019
Look ahead
The Dodgers head into the second game of the series with the Cardinals on Tuesday night at 4:45 pm PDT. Ross Stripling gets the start on the mound, facing off right-handed pitcher Dakota Hudson.