Dodgers fall in 9th inning to Cardinals

The Cardinals rallied for a run off Blake Treinen in the ninth inning to beat the Dodgers, 3-2, on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Treinen, who was unavailable Monday because “his body didn’t feel right,” a condition on which manager Dave Roberts declined to elaborate, was healthy enough to pitch a perfect eighth inning on nine pitches. In his first game since Friday, Treinen pitched in parts of two innings for the fifth time this season.

Tyler O’Neill opened the ninth with a single to center, then stole second. Edmundo Sosa tried to sacrifice O’Neill to third but his one-strike bunt was foul. Sosa hit the next pitch past a diving Justin Turner at third base to drive in the go-ahead run.

After Treinen struck out Jose Rondon for the first out of the ninth, Kenley Jansen was brought in to record the final two outs of the frame. Jansen was warming up in the bottom of the eighth, presumably to start the inning had the Dodgers taken the lead.

The bullpen game for the Dodgers mostly worked as well as they could have wanted. David Price was shaky, allowing five hits and a walk while recording five outs. He allowed a pair of runs, but the Dodgers wiggled out of further damage in both frames. Price struck out the final two batters of the first, and Joe Kelly relieved him to strike out the final batter of the second, both times leaving two runners on.

Kelly, Phil Bickford, Nate Jones, Mitch White, and Treinen combined to only allow one hit while recording 19 outs to get through the eighth inning, with nine strikeouts.

Tuesday was the fifth bullpen game deployed by the Dodgers in the last five weeks, and in none of the five did they allow more than three runs.

On offense

For a second straight night the Dodgers were flummoxed by a Cardinals starting pitcher, and for the second straight night they rebounded against the St. Louis bullpen.

John Gant held the Dodgers to four hits and three walks in six scoreless innings. Two of the hits came in the sixth, including Will Smith’s double to left that surely would have scored Mookie Betts from first base had the ball not bounced over the fence.

Earlier in the inning, Tommy Edman made a leaping grab at second base to rob Max Muncy of a sure hit, then with two outs and both runners in scoring position, Gavin Lux’s would-be single was tracked down by a sliding catch in shallow center by Dylan Carlson.

Matt Beaty was the Dodgers offense on Tuesday, hitting a two-run home run in the seventh off Giovanny Gallegos, tying the score.

After pinch-hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo walked with two outs in the ninth, Cody Bellinger followed with a single, playing the final two innings in center field on what manager Dave Roberts described before the game as “a work day” when he was out of the lineup.

Mookie Betts followed with a drive to the warning track in left off closer Alex Reyes, but O’Neill ran it down with a leaping catch to end the game.

“It was remarkable,” Roberts said of the Cardinals’ defense. “Tonight, it was a difference maker. That last ball that O’Neill made, the game’s over and we win the game.”

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Matt Beaty (3)

WP — Giovanny Gallegos (3-1): 2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

LP — Blake Treinen (1-2): 1⅓ IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 strikeout

Sv — Alex Reyes (16): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk

Up next

The Dodgers go for the series win on Wednesday night (6:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), with Walker Buehler on the mound in the homestand finale, facing Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez.