clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Dodgers offense slows down, lose to Cardinals

Joe Kelly records his fourth blown lead and second loss of the season

Los Angeles Dodgers v St Louis Cardinals Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

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.

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 13 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.

Box score.

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.

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.