ST. LOUIS — Roki Sasaki might’ve finally turned a corner from his recent struggles Saturday night.
Too bad the Dodgers’ offense took too long to do the same.
Despite a season-best six-inning, three-run start from Sasaki, the Dodgers remained mired in their recently maddening slump during a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
In their latest sign of futility, they entered the ninth inning with as many hits as double plays (four each). Then, despite some good batted-ball luck that keyed a last-gasp rally, they fittingly ended the game by stranding the tying and go-ahead runners on base.
Saturday followed what has become an uncomfortably common script for the Dodgers (20-13) in recent days. They couldn’t generate power, failing to hit a home run for a fifth straight game (the longest drought for the club since 2015). They couldn’t take advantage of situational opportunities, either, going hitless with runners in scoring position until their short-lived comeback attempt in the top of the ninth.
That inning was keyed by three two-out singles that all deflected off the glove of a Cardinals fielder. Andy Pages then snuck a seeing-eye grounder through the infield to cut the deficit to one.
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Alas, Dalton Rushing struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game and send the Dodgers to a fourth straight defeat.
They somehow stranded six runners, even with all of their double plays.
In the first inning, Will Smith hit an inning-ending double-play grounder to short. In the third, Alex Freeland got doubled off after an overly aggressive jump on a lineout to second from Shohei Ohtani. Another double play ended the fourth, when Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt made a spinning turn at second on a ground ball from Teoscar Hernández. Then in the fifth, Hyeseong Kim couldn’t leg out a tap back to the mound that was turned for two.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
