The Dodgers were coming off a 7-0 drubbing from the Cards on Friday night. The early 4pm PST start time was due to Fox carrying the game live on May 25th with Ted Lilly making his first start coming off the DL and his 0-1 record and 5.63 era vs. John Gast who was 2-0 with a 4.76 era. Gast didn’t last long as he got injured in the second inning of a 1-1 game and was replaced by Joe Kelly.
The Cards struck first on Jaime Jarrin bobblehead day with Yadier Molina doucbling home Matt Carpenter who led off with a single. Molina, probably the best catcher in baseball (Joe Maurer the other option but Molina is much better defensively) has been a key anchor for St. Louis who have been beset by injuries but are still in first place. Currently on the dl are Rafael Furcal, Chris Carpenter and Jason Motte who are all out for a long while if not for the season. Also, pitchers Jake Westbrook, Jaime Garcia and Fernando Salas are on the 15 day dl.
For the Dodgers, Hanley Ramirez and Josh Beckett are on the 15 day dl and Chad Billingsley is on the 60 day dl and may be out for the year.
Adrian Gonzalez singled in the second run to make it 2-1 as he has been their most consistent hitter. He then hit a solo HR to right field to make it 3-1 before the Cards tied it in the 6th with 2 runs. Mark Ellis hit a screamer down the left field line to score Carl Crawford from first base who reached on a error by second baseman Matt Carpenter.
The Dodgers added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th of struggling reliever Mitchell Boggs and Brandon League closed the game to make the final score 5-3 for LA. Dee Gordon’s lined single broke an 0-25 hitless streak. He will need to pick it up to stay on the big league team especially when Hanley Ramirez comes back.
One more sunday afternoon game vs. St. Louis before 4 straight games vs. the cross-town Angels (first 2 at Dodger Stadium and then 2 in Anaheim).
