Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Fresh off getting a do-over to the start of their virtual season, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned to their losing ways Monday night in St. Louis.
Alex Reyes led the Cardinals (5-5) to a 3-0 victory as he blanked the Dodgers (6-4) across seven innings while striking out 10. Four Dodgers did draw walks against Reyes, but the two hits against him was never going to get it done.
St. Louis’ bullpen (Gwang-hyun Kim, Giovanny Gallegos and John Brebbia) followed Reyes’ lead, allowing one hit and a walk across the final two innings as Los Angeles mounted essentially no comeback attempt.
“Alex did a tremendous job,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said, doing a real favor to sports writers everywhere with his candid postgame interview.
Opposing Reyes was Julio Urias, who allowed two runs on five hits and no walks in his 6 2/3 innings of work while striking out eight. Dodger murderer Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo shot in the fourth to give the Cardinals the lead and Tyler O’Neill drove in the game’s second run with a sixth-inning single. Goldschmidt and O’Neill did most of the game’s damage, combining to go 5-for-8 with two runs and three RBIs.
It was really a fine outing for Urias, but the Dodgers’ lineup let him down. Pedro Baez closed out the seventh for Urias on just three pitches before Dave Robots turned to Adam Kolarek to start the eighth. Kolarek’s adjustment to the new three-batter minimum rule hit a bump Monday, as the left-handed specialist allowed a walk, hit and a run in just 1/3 of an inning before Joe Kelly came in to clean up the potential mess.
Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty will face off in the second game of the series on Tuesday in front of the “best fans in baseball.”
